How To Break A Mask
by Kinomi Akai
Summary: NOT ON HOLD ANYMORE :DDDDD An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M for swearing & citrus, WIP
1. Prologue, of sorts

**How to Break a Mask**

**Author: **_Kinomi Akai_

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Naruto, Orochimaru, and Sakura would die, Kabuto would turn into a pokemon, Lee and Guy would trim their eyebrows and donate them to Gaara, Itachi would slap Sasuke for leaving Konoha, confiscate ALL of his clothing, and send him back where he would get together with Naruto And everyone would live happily ever after :P_

**Summary: **_An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe_

**Parings: **_Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru, GaaNeji, ShikaIno and other pairings in later chapters_

**Warnings: **_Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it Ah, yes and Sakura bashing._

**Author's Note: **_Yay for my first Naruto fic! I feel like writing XD Oh, and in this fic, Sasuke never left Konoha._

_EDIT: I have now started editing this story. Currently working on Chapter 4. That means, hopefully, I can make this active again!  
_

"Blah" – talking

'_blah'_ – thinking

'**blah' **– Kyuubi talking

Here goes nothing!

* * *

Everyday, Naruto put up a mask. Not a real mask, but one of false emotion…of false happiness. In fact, Naruto couldn't remember a time where he had truly smiled before. He pretended to be an idiot, to be clumsy, to not have a care in the world.

No human knew the real him.

'**Oi kit, time to get up,'**

Naruto felt his eyelids slowly open. He yawned, and slowly dragged his body away from the warm bed and into the bathroom. On his way there, he glanced at the calendar and realized why he had a sudden feeling of dread.

Today was October 10th.

His birthday. The one day that caused him so much pain.

'**Kit, at this rate you'll be later than usual.'**

'_Ne, kyu-chan do you think I should really go to training today?'_

'**Probably. It wouldn't be good if your teammates started asking questions. Just be sure to avoid the villagers extra carefully today.'**

When Naruto was very young, Naruto spoke to a voice in his head. He became friends with this voice; they were his friend. This voice helped him through his childhood, helped him to hide his true feelings from the world and never let anyone know what he was truly thinking.

When he found out that this voice, this friend that he had, was the horribly evil Kyuubi no Kitsune, he felt betrayed and hurt. He became scared of this voice; but he couldn't escape it. You cannot run away from your own mind, after all. Eventually, Naruto came to realize that Kyuubi's reputation was exactly like his - they were hated, and given no chance to explain or prove themselves. Kyuubi had attacked Konoha, yes, but she (yes, Naruto found out that the great Kyuubi no Kitsune was actually female) had done so with cause. They killed her lover; her mate. She had been blinded by rage. Naruto knew what she told was true: Kyuubi had shown him the memories. Since she had opened up to him, they had become very close. Almost like a mother-son relationship, as odd as it might've been to think of it that way. Kyuubi took it upon herself to train Naruto, to make sure he would never be the dead-last of the academy that he pretended to be. Now, of course, he was extremely powerful and talented. Not that he would show anyone. Naruto didn't need the village to hate him even more that they already did.

Actually, Naruto was working on creating a jutsu that would give said kitsune her own body, if only for a short while. The seal was too powerful to break without killing himself.

* * *

With a sigh, Naruto stepped out of his apartment, now fully clothed and ready to go.

As soon as he walked out, he felt everyone's eyes on him. The whispers started and they were all glaring.

"That's him…"

"Stupid brat, he doesn't even deserve to live."

"He killed everyone; he's a de-"

"Shhh! We can't talk about that in public!"

Naruto continued on, as if he couldn't hear anyone. He had enhanced senses (thanks to Kyuubi) so he could easily hear every little detail, but he simply plastered on his fake grin and kept on walking.

* * *

When Naruto reached the bridge where him and his teammates met every morning, he quickly grinned and started waving his hand madly.

"Ohayo Sakura-chan!"

"Shut-up Naruto! You're so annoying!"

'_Kami I hate her…'_

'**That hair burns my eyes…'**

Naruto inwardly snickered. Outwardly, he put on a pout and protested very loudly, "but Sakura-chaaaan!"

"Be quiet dobe." Sasuke said, or sighed, rather. Unfortunately, this statement made Sakura realize she was neglecting her duty as crazed fangirl and immediately resume her position of clinging on Sasuke's arm.

'**Ugh, I don't know how you put up with this.'**

'_I don't know either.'_

"That's it, Sasuke-teme! I challenge you! I'll beat you to a bloody pulp, you bastard!"

"Hn."

About two hours passed by of pretty much just Naruto yelling, a few hits from Sakura and Sasuke ignoring everything around him, before finally Kakashi showed up.

"Yo!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Came the yell from Naruto and Sakura.

"Maaa, sorry I had to take care of a little dolphin that I found." (1)

'_He's so obvious…'_

"LIAR!" Yelled Sakura.

"Eheheh…well anyways, I figured that today we should take a break from all the missions and training. Let's go the the festival!" Kakashi's eye curved upwards, and indication that he was smiling under his mask.

'_Shit! Kyuubi, what do I say? I can't go to the festival!'_

'**Calm down kit! Just say you're not feeling well or that you think the festival's stupid or something.'**

"But Kakashi-sensei! That festival's a waste of time! We should be training when we get a day off!" Naruto quickly came up with an excuse.

'_Please buy it, please buy it…'_

"Now, now, Naruto, you shouldn't push yourself too hard. You guys need a break. And no, I'm not letting you guys get out of this one!"

'_Damn!'_

'**Perhaps you can last this one time, kit. It's only for a few hours.'**

'_But what if the villagers say something?'_

'**The old hag will be there. I doubt they'll say anything within a normal human's hearing range.'**

'_I hope you're right kyu-chan.'_

"Naruto! We're gonna leave you behind if you don't hurry," came Kakashi's voice.

"Ah! Wait!" Naruto sped off after them, praying that nothing would go wrong…

Oh how wrong he was.

* * *

(1) Cookies for anyone who looked underneath the underneath and found out the actual meaning of this!

Author's Note: How was that for my first time? Reviewers shall get cookies! And will be loved dearly!

Criticism is also welcome, as long as how say how I can get better. Flamers will be laughed at~

Yep, I'm in a good mood right now! R&R please!


	2. Time To Celebrate

**How to Break a Mask**

**Author: **_Kinomi Akai_

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Naruto, a lot more than the kiss in episode 3 would happen ;)_

**Summary: **_An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe_

**Parings: **_Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru, GaaNeji, ShikaIno and other pairings in later chapters_

**Warnings: **_Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it Ah, yes and Sakura bashing._

**Author's Note: **_This chapter is dedicated to sprig and sanseui-kitty! Sanseui-kitty gets cookies for looking underneath the underneath!_

_EDIT: This chapter has been edited. Orly? Yarly.  
_

"Blah" – talking

'_blah'_ – thinking

'**blah' **– Kyuubi talking

* * *

Last time:

"_Naruto! We're gonna leave you behind if you don't hurry," came Kakashi's voice._

"_Ah! Wait!" Naruto sped off after them, praying that nothing would go wrong…_

_Oh how wrong he was._

* * *

Chapter 1: Festival

As Team 7 came closer to the festival, Naruto came closer and closer to sprinting in the opposite direction. The past years, he had always stayed far away from everyone on his birthday. The villagers were always much more hostile towards him today; he found that out when he was very young. The villagers had nearly killed him then, if it wasn't for Kyuubi, he would've died for sure.

Naruto shook his head. Now wasn't the time to think of his past.

'_Oh shit, we're nearly there!' Naruto thought to himself._

'**Calm yourself, kit. Think. How can we get ourselves out of this situation?'**

Naruto could see the decorations and stands quickly approaching, and being able to see them sooner and clearer than others was certainly not helping him in this eyes darted quickly around, mind whirling to see if there was some sort of way he could get out of the festival. So far, no such way had been found.

Naruto returned to looking at the path ahead of him. He realized that a few meters ahead of him was a small rock. He had probably been quiet for a long time, so it was time to put up the act again. As he reached the rock, he positioned his foot a little underneath it, so that when he tried to step forward he fell flat on his face.

Sakura, Kakashi and Sasuke heard the bang, and turned around to see Naruto on the ground face first.

"Dobe."

Naruto immediately stood up at Sasuke's comment.

"I'm not a dobe, you bastard!"

"Naruto! Don't you dare call Sasuke-kun a bastard! He's way stronger than you anyway!" Sakura stepped forward and slammed her fist down on Naruto's head.

"Itai, Sakura-chan, that hurt!"

"Now, now you three. We need to keep going if you want to make it to the festival early!" Kakashi said.

'_Whoever said we wanted to get there early?'_ Naruto thought to himself, while childishly grumbling and glaring on the outside.

* * *

Villagers were glaring at Naruto as he walked by. The closer they got to the festival, the more people there were. Naruto tried his best to ignore the whispers that followed him. Of course the rest of Team Seven didn't notice, they couldn't hear like Naruto could.

"What's he doing here?"

"How dare he show his face today…"

"…his fault the Yondaime died…"

"…demon shouldn't even be allowed to come outside…"

Naruto stared up at the sky. He tried his best not to let his smile waver, not to let his mask fall. He was extremely worried about what was going to happen at the festival. The villagers were always more hostile towards him, that's why he always disappeared on his birthday. No one ever celebrated it with him.

'_I'll just act like I always do…I have to…'_

'Kit, the pervert's talking to you!'

"…do?"

"Huh?" Naruto realized that he hadn't been paying attention to what his teacher was saying. Not that it was probably anything important.

"Naruto, you should listen better. Kakashi-sensei just asked what we wanted to do, since we're here. Be more polite!" Sakura glared at Naruto.

"He's an idiot, right Sasuke-kun?" She said, he glare quickly changing to a dreamy look on her face as she latched onto Sasuke's arm.

Naruto stopped listening when Sakura said "we're here". He had never felt this nervous before. He quickly hid his emotions and shouted;

"RAMEN! Let's get ramen, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, ramen's isn't healthy enough to eat all the time. But it is about lunch time, let's get some food."

"Ramen is healthy! It's the best food there is!"

"I agree with Kakashi-sensei, don't you, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura argued, before looking up at Sasuke again.

"Hn."

Naruto pouted as Kakashi lead them towards a sushi restaurant.

"Let's eat here." He said, before sitting down and motioning them to do the same.

A waitress came to the table with a smile on her face, asking what everyone wanted. She was middle-aged, which only meant one thing to Naruto. Her eyes reached Naruto, her smile wilted, and her eyes narrowed. She quickly wrote what they wanted and went into the kitchen.

'_Great. Now I won't get to eat again'_ Naruto thought to himself.

'**It's okay, Kit. We'll get out of this festival soon. And you've gone longer without food.' **Kyuubi replied.

'_Do you think the rest of the team will notice?'_

'**You can make sure they don't. Pretend to eat the spoiled food or something like that. We don't want them to start asking questions.'**

And so Naruto whined loudly about how long the food was taking, getting a bump on the head from Sakura, who told him to shut up.

* * *

_Author's Note: So how was it? Sorry it took so long, I didn't have the chance to type the rest!_

_Wah, I'm sick today! -falls over-_

_Review! Nyah!_


	3. May I Take Your Order?

**How to Break a Mask**

**Author: **_Kinomi Akai_

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Naruto, there would defiantly be some sort of secret reference to fanfiction, Tokio Hotel and some sort of video game ;P_

**Summary: **_An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe_

**Parings: **_Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru, GaaNeji, ShikaIno and other pairings in later chapters_

**Warnings: **_Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it Ah, yes and Sakura bashing._

**Author's Note: **_Oh. My. God. …Is that?_

_NO. It can't be._

_An UPDATE? From Kinomi? Has hell frozen over?_

_Yep. I actually updated! I'm just about as shocked as you are, actually. I decided to look over all the reviews I had gotten, and I suddenly was inspired. So thank you all soooo much! For all you guys who've stuck by me, I love you! And I'm insanely jealous of your patience!_

_EDIT: You know how many times I tried to write Chapter 4? ..._

_..._

_..._

_IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAND  
_

"Blah" – talking

'_blah'_ – thinking

'**blah' **– Kyuubi talking

* * *

Last time:

'_Do you think the rest of the team will notice?'_

'_You can make sure they don't. Pretend to eat the spoiled food or something like that. We don't want them to start asking questions.'_

_And so Naruto whined loudly about how long the food was taking, getting a bump on the head from Sakura, who told him to shut up._

* * *

Chapter 2: Restaurant

"Why is the food taking so long?" Naruto whined.

"Naruto, you've said that at least twenty times," Kakashi pointed out.

"But it's been such a long time! We should have just gotten ramen!" Sakura was getting dangerously close to losing her temper with Naruto, again, when the food finally came.

"Sorry to keep you waiting! Here's your food." A woman, who appeared to be in her thirties, handed out food to Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi. Naruto was handed an empty plate. The rest of team seven didn't notice, as they thanked the female, but Naruto was becoming exceedingly nervous.

'_Kyuubi,'_ He thought at the fox, his panic making him drop the nickname,'_I'm not used to dealing with situations like this! How am I supposed to act without dropping my act?'_

'**Think fast kit! They're talking to you!'**

Naruto snapped back into reality with a "Huh?"

"Jeez, Naruto, you should actually listen once in a while. I asked you why you don't have any food on your plate!" Sakura scolded Naruto before turning back to continue staring at Sasuke.

"Oh, um, I finished my food." The blonde did as Kyuubi told, and quickly thought an excuse, while silently praying they would again be dense enough to fall for it.

"You know it's not healthy to eat that fast, isn't that right Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn."

'_They actually fell for it!' _Naruto thought, holding back a cringe at Sakura's elated giggle.

Naruto, in relief at Sakura's comment, didn't notice Kakashi's eyes narrow slightly. He excused himself from the table, giving the excuse that he was going to the bathroom.

'**I don't think your teacher did.'**

'_What?'_

'**Nevermind, just be prepared next time.'**

He mentally snorted. _'Of course, Kyuubi. Next time I'll be sure to have an intricate plan detailing how to escape from eating my food.'_

Kyuubi chose not to reply to this. While the rest of the team was eating, Naruto's eyes were darting from side to side, mentally gathering all the threats in the area. He knew that today wouldn't pass without an incident, Hokage or no Hokage there; even she couldn't control the villagers fully. And that was clearly shown by the glares he was receiving around the restaurant. An elderly couple walked into the place, took one look at him, and promptly walked right back out. He could hear snippets of every conversation around him and somehow, Naruto knew it wasn't simply his paranoia telling him they were whispering about him.

"Making me lose my appetite…disgusting creature." A low, distinctly female voice muttered somewhere on his left.

"How dare he show his face!" A harsh, angry whisper came. "Especially today!"

"It sickens me how he has our Hokage wrapped around his revolting, little finger. She does anything the brat asks for!" A lady whispered in her friend's ear, who replied in kind;

"It's probably some demon technique…who knows what he's been doing behind our backs, the monster—"

Naruto had heard enough. He quickly pulled up his mask again and focused on trying to get himself out of here as soon as possible.

"Come _on_! You guys eat so slowly! I hate sitting around like this!" A boisterous, loud voice came from the blonde, making many glare at him; including his teammates.

Fortunately, Kakashi came back at that very moment, looking pleased with himself. "You two, are you nearly finished?" He continued, facing Naruto's teamates.

Sakura looked as if she was going to say something, before closing her mouth and looking at Sasuke. When the black-haired male grunted in affirmative, she was quick to agree. Kakashi then beckoned them to follow him.

"But Kakashi-sensei, don't we have to pay?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi just smiled. "Don't worry about it," He said mysteriously.

** "Hm."**

_ "What's that supposed to mean?"_

** "It means my respect for your teacher just grew slightly."**

_ "What, that we're not paying?"_

** "I'm fairly sure he just stood up for you, kit."**

_ "Hah, now you're just seeing what you want to see, Kyuubi."_

* * *

You see, Kakashi wasn't a bad person. He knew that a few villagers resented Naruto, as the demon-carrier, and stopped it when he noticed it. The problem: he seldom noticed it. The villagers were not idiots, as much as they seemed to be. They knew what they were doing, and they knew how to hide it from prying eyes. Once they knew that Naruto would not tell, and if he did it wouldn't be believed easily, they became much more vicious and sadistic.

* * *

They exited the restaurant and looked at the booths that were nearly finished being set up. As they walked by, looking for something to do, the citizens of Konoha were fuming. The demon-boy hadn't shown his face on this day since when he was five, and they had taught him a lesson, a very significant lesson, and it seemed he hadn't learned. They looked to one another, silently communicating, thinking the same haunting thought; how shall we discipline him this time?

* * *

_Author's Note: End for now!_

_Would you believe me if I said this is the longest chapter? ((Heyhey, guys, it's 11:11 pm! Make a wish!)) I'd be lying. It's the longest one in this story, though._

_Oh, snap! I just realized I've changed my penname since I started the story. Hey – it's Purrrr. Sorry for the wait, please don't kill me, and please review! It's my life source, I swear. I know any other authors out there can agree that reviews really do make you update faster – you just get more inspired and motivated to write :D_

_So I've been working on a couple other stories, I don't really know how I like them so far, but if you're interested in hearing about them, or my ideas, just post a review – or email me or something!_

_This is Kinomi Akai, back from the dead, ending this chapter. Love you all!_


	4. Get Out Alive

**How to Break a Mask**

**Author: **_Kinomi Akai_

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't have to eat Kraft Dinner, but I would eat Kraft Dinner - of course I would, I'd just eat more!_

**Summary: **_An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe_

**Parings: **_Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru, GaaNeji, ShikaIno and other pairings in later chapters_

**Warnings: **_Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it. Ah, yes and Sakura bashing._

**Author's Note: **_SOOOO. It has been way, way, way too long, and honestly, I have no excuse. Well, I do, but they're not any good, and you have better thing's to do with your time than to read all the excuses I can come up with._

_I have edited the story, and I'm a lot happier with it now. I found the motivation in myself to keep writing after I read some reviews I got. I'd like to thank YaoiFanGirl5678; even though it wasn't a long review, it gave me a lot of motivation._

_All I can say is that I'm really sorry, and that I intend to start taking my writing seriously. I have a lot of stuff that I want to put up here :)_

"_Blah" – talking_

'_blah'_ – thinking

'**blah' **– Kyuubi talking

* * *

Last time:

_They exited the restaurant and looked at the booths that were nearly finished being set up. As they walked by, looking for something to do, the citizens of Konoha were fuming. The demon-boy hadn't shown his face on this day since when he was five, and they had taught him a lesson, a very significant lesson, and it seemed he hadn't learned. They looked to one another, silently communicating, thinking the same haunting thought; how shall we discipline him this time?_

* * *

Chapter 4: Bathroom

The first thing they did when they walked out of the restaurant was follow Kakashi to a stand right across the street, where he bought a great amount of food.

"Didn't we just eat...?" Sakura mumbled. Kakashi's eye curved up, and he turned and spoke to her:

"This is for later on," he said, as he paid for the bags.

"Oh, okay," she said.

Kakashi discretely passed a bag into Naruto's hand before turning and continuing to walk like nothing happened. Naruto was shell-shocked.

"Did he just...?"

**"I told you he wasn't as dumb as the rest of them,"**

"Oi, dobe! You coming?" Sasuke was looking back at him.

Naruto shook his head and hurried to catch up to his team. "So where are we even going?" Naruto finally spoke up.

"Hokage-sama is giving a speech, a few more minutes walk from here. It's starting soon," Kakashi remarked.

* * *

They got to the middle of the festival, in a way, which only made Naruto even more paranoid.

There was a stage of some sort, but no chairs around it. Naruto supposed everyone just had to stand all around it. If he hadn't been so focussed on being terrified, and if he wasn't himself, Naruto could have probably had a great time at the festival. The decorations were detailed and beautiful, there was entertainment everywhere. Several ninjas had taken the day off and instead of using their jutsus for battle, they were charming the audience with them. There were game stands and shops everywhere you looked, and it was getting rather busy now that it was around midday.

There was a crowd now, all around the stage, as people knew Tsunade would be coming on soon. It was only a few minutes before that actually happened, but by then Naruto was feeling very claustrophobic. Sasuke was on one side, which was fine, but he didn't know the person on his other side. And that man seemed to know him; all too well.

The glare he gave Naruto made a chill go down his spine.

"Kakashi-sensei?" He half-whispered, since Tsunade had started talking. Kakashi managed to look reproachful, even with half of his face covered.

"What, Naruto?"

"I really need to, to go to the bathroom." 'Just let me go already!'

"You can't wait until after the speech?" Sakura hissed, peering around.

Sasuke was giving Naruto an odd look, but said nothing.

Kakashi sighed. "Just go."

"Thank you!" Naruto nearly sprinted out of the crowd. He didn't know where the nearest bathroom was; he didn't really care, to be honest. It's not as if he really needed to go, he just needed to get out of there. He felt total relief, until he realized that he was completely alone now, with no one except for the villagers.

**"Kit...keep moving."** Kyuubi said, and Naruto didn't have to be told twice.

* * *

Sasuke excused himself from the same crowd with a single word.

"Bathroom," he said, and Kakashi gave him a look, but nodded.

Naruto had been acting strange all day, doing things like randomly staring into space, completely out of it until Sasuke yelled his name to snap him out of it. He had barely smiled all day, and his jokes had been even more weak than normal. Not to mention that thing with the food. Okay, Naruto ate fast. But they had barely gotten their plates. That was kind of ridiculous.

With these thoughts in mind, Sasuke went off in search of the nearest bathroom.

* * *

Naruto, on the other hand, was nowhere near a bathroom. He walked briskly, because running would make him look like he had done something and he didn't want to give the villagers anymore incentive than they already had. His eyes were darting around, trying to find a safe place that he could lay low in for a while. There were some villagers that did not turn as he passed; did not notice him at all. But there were a great many who did, and a great many who he feared.

Because, as he learned the last time he came out on this day, he can't fight back. To some extend he can defend himself, he can try to run, but to fight back would be telling them that he was the demon they thought he was all along. And the council would leap at the chance to exile, imprisonment, or exterminate him. They wouldn't bother to listen to his side of the story, and there was only so much power Tsunade had when it came down to a trial. She would probably be able to get the charge lessoned enough for him to just end up in prison, but no more than that.

His walking sped up.

**"What are you going to do when your team starts looking for you?"** Kyuubi, who had been silent most of this time, asked.

_'I have no idea. But that's the lesser of two evils.'_

**"Do you even know where you're going?"**

_'I'm heading to the apartment, it's the safest place. I'll tell my team that I got lost or something, and that was the only place I knew wh-'_ He felt an arm grab him.

Naruto looked up and saw a large, middle-aged man. He had an angry face and was staring down at Naruto like filth on his shoe.

"Going somewhere?" The man asked, and Naruto's heart started beating twice as fast. He was suddenly aware of all the other villagers that had stopped what they were doing. They started to approach him, casually. There were no stands around here anymore, no innocent people who would ask why adults were circling a child.

Naruto swallowed. "J-just going home." He cursed his stutter, because it made the man smile.

An elderly lady, who would look kindly by any other circumstances, replied, "Why don't we help you make it there?"

"No thank you," Naruto responded, a little too quickly. "I'll be fine." He tried to remove his arm from the man's grip, but it wouldn't budge.

"Now, now, that's not polite. You should treat a lady with respect, it was very kind of her to offer that." The man said, "I think you need to be taught some manners."

* * *

Author's Note:

Cliffie :) I uploaded this as soon as I finished it, to prove I'm still alive...ish. I'm going to continue as soon as I can, and try to update as soon as I can. I really do want to finish this story, although now I realize how big it's going to be, with everything that I want to do.

I have a lot of other stories in the works, that I'll start uploading...maybe. I want to see how things go when I try to work on more than one story at a time.

I want to give a HUGE thank you for everyone who kept me on their favourite or alert list, who reviewed even after they saw how long it had been since I posted a new chapter. I haven't been in the Naruto fandom in a while, but I'm going to try my hardest to get back into it.

Till next time,

- Kinomi Akai


	5. Blackout

**How to Break a Mask**

**Author: **_Kinomi Akai_

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Naruto, there would be no hints towards homosexuality. There would be outright homosexuality ;D_

**Summary: **_An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe_

**Parings: **_Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru, GaaNeji, ShikaIno and other pairings in later chapters_

**Warnings: **_Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it. Ah, yes and Sakura bashing._

**Author's Note: **_You people are amazing :) Words cannot describe what I felt when I got the overflow of reviews from this story. You made me so, so happy, thank you! To be honest, I had no idea a lot of you liked it this much, so those of you that reviewed, you are the reason for this chapter. You really gave me the motivation to write this, thank you!_

"_Blah" – talking_

'_blah'_ – thinking

'**blah' **– Kyuubi talking

* * *

Last time:

_Naruto swallowed. "J-just going home." He cursed his stutter, because it made the man smile. _

_An elderly lady, who would look kindly by any other circumstances, replied, "Why don't we help you make it there?"_

_"No thank you," Naruto responded, a little too quickly. "I'll be fine." He tried to remove his arm from the man's grip, but it wouldn't budge._

_"Now, now, that's not polite. You should treat a lady with respect, it was very kind of her to offer that." The man said, "I think you need to be taught some manners."_

* * *

Chapter 5: Alleyway

It was such a cliche villain line that Naruto would have laughed if he hadn't wanted to scream. He tore his arm out of the other man's grasp, no longer caring about being polite, and attempted to force his way through his surrounders, but there was too many of them. Hands reached out and pulled him back, straining his muscles and pulling his skin. He writhed and convulsed, attempting to flail his way out of their grasp, but whenever a hand let go, a new one grabbed hold.

**"Scream, call attention to yourself!"** Kyuubi frantically advised and Naruto began a blood-curdling yell for help. The villagers were quick to muffle the sound with their hands. He had made them angry with his attempts for escape, and now they were pulling him sideways into an alleyway. Several women had stepped back, as if they no longer wished to participate, but were merely leaving him to his fate.

_'Nononono-'_ Naruto's thoughts were wildly terrified.

**"Bite them, Naruto!"** Kyuubi had abandoned the nickname, **"Use your nails, your teeth!"**

Naruto bit down, hard.

He was rewarded with several yelps, and the hands leaving his mouth. He redoubled his efforts to escape their hold and continued to scream for help.

"You little brat!" A man growled, and in the next second, Naruto was seeing stars, gasping. He blinked hard, but couldn't keep his vision from continuously blacking out. His entire head was throbbing in pain, focusing on his nose. That punch had been chakra-infused, his nose was surely broken.

The people who were attacking him were no ordinary villagers; they were those who had fought the Kyuubi, fought so hard against the fox, only to have it survive in the form of Naruto Uzumaki. They needed to finish the job, they needed to save their village from the monster that could destroy them. A demon like Kyuubi had no conscience, no mercy; no seal could hold something like that. Naruto was Kyuubi: the nine-tailed fox, who needed to either be killed, or scared into submission. There was no other way.

**"I'll heal your nose, get out of there! Use a weapon, use your chakra-"**

_'I can't use either of those things, you know that!'_ Naruto screamed into his mind. A part of him realized there were now tears mixed with blood rolling down his face, but the majority of him could not care less.

**"Screw the council, screw the rules they gave you! Let them banish you! Leave this godforsaken village-" **

_'I won't, Kyuubi, this is my home-'_

**"What's left here for you? The friends who don't even remember your birthday? The village that wants you dead? Your dream for Hokage that you and I both know will never happen?"**

Naruto mentally flinched from Kyuubi's words, but saw his vision clearing and put them to the back of his mind. He blinked again, feeling himself being dragged, and heaved his feet up to kick at his attackers. The sudden change in weight caused his holders to become unstable, and several fell to the ground. They still held him, but not tight enough anymore and he ripped himself from their grasp. He flew forwards onto the ground and scrambled to get up, when he remember the woman who had stood back. He felt himself brutally thrown back onto the ground, with several insults screamed at him. He let out a frustrated, pained sob as he hit the dirt, and was grabbed again, with renewed vigor. He felt his shoulder snap from the force, and he screamed as he was pulled into the dark.

* * *

Sasuke must have searched the entire main town by now. He had no idea where Naruto could have gone, other than back to Kakashi, so he returned to where Tsunade was now leaving the stage. He pushed through the crowd...well, the crowd kind of parted for him, until he found his teammates.

"Where's Naruto?" He asked them.

Kakashi grimaced. "He must have gotten lost..."

"He's lived in the village all his life, and he still gets lost, what an idiot..." Sakura mumbled to herself.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was not grumbling about Naruto. He had a sick feeling in his gut: Naruto, who had been acting strangely all day was now nowhere to be found, and Sasuke was going to find out just what was going on.

"Lend me Pakkun or something, I'll find the dobe." Sasuke stated. It was not a question.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but agreed, and summoned the small brown pug. Before he was able to say anything else, Sasuke spoke to him.

"Pakkun, we need to find Naruto. You remember what he smells like?"

"Of course I do, he smells like fox," the dog's gruff voice answered him, "but this town is filled with people, I'll need to sort out which one is his scent."

"Will it take long?" Sasuke asked.

"Not if you don't keep bothering me," Pakkun dismissed him, and began to sniff around.

Kakashi was looking at Sasuke oddly.

"You're taking this rather seriously," the silver haired man said, in a way of question.

Sasuke didn't dignify that with an actual answer, instead responding with his typical:

"Hn."

Sakura, annoyed, was standing with her arms crossed, pouting in a bored fashion.

"Of course on the one day we get off, Naruto has to go and get lost. He always needs so much attention-"

"Sakura." Sasuke interrupted her.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" Her entire demeanor changed as she looked at the object of her affections.

"Shut up." Her mouth closed with an audible snap.

"Okay, so Sakura and I will go see Hokage-sama, and you can meet us there with Naruto." Kakashi decided.

"Why do we have to go see her, Sensei?" The pink haired girl, who decided that her time of silence had ended, asked.

"I have to talk to her about something. Okay, Sasuke?"

"Hn." Sasuke's eyes didn't leave Pakkun.

"Lovely." And he turned and left, leaving Sakura to follow, and to glance back at Sasuke with longing in her pale green eyes.

Pakkun suddenly looked up, and straight forwards from where he was crouching.

"This way." And he dashed.

There was no hesitation before Sasuke followed.

* * *

Author's Note:

_I feel like a horrible person leaving -another- cliffhanger. But for some reason, I felt like I had to end the chapter here. It just didn't feel right continuing it at all._

_I haven't written using japanese tidbits in a long time, so if I made mistakes, please let me know! This goes for this chapter, and every other one, and every other story I write!_

_Thank you so much for everyone who put me on a favourites/alert list, or reviewed my story! I was shocked at the overflow of e-mails I got this morning, and all the reviews were so nice :)_

_You guys are amazing. I was going to reply to your reviews, but then I realized you would probably appreciate another chapter more ;)_

_I'm going to reply now, thank you guys!_

_- Kinomi_

_P.s. I realize it wasn't much of a time for humor, but if anyone looked at 'screw the rules' and thought what I did - review. I'll give you a shoutout if you get it right ;D  
_


	6. The Intent is Killer

**How to Break a Mask**

**Author: **_Kinomi Akai_

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Naruto, as soon as Sasuke ran away and met up with Snakeface Orochimaru aka Voldemort, Itachi would magically teleport and rip 'rochi's head right off. And then yell "WHATCHA GON DO NOOWWWW?" and teleport away, into the night._

**Summary: **_An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe_

**Parings: **_Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru, GaaNeji, ShikaIno and other pairings in later chapters_

**Warnings: **_Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it. Ah, yes and Sakura bashing._

**Author's Note: **_So now I'm trying to get ahead :) I'm trying to write as much as I can before school starts, because I don't know how my updating will be around then. But it's hard to work on two stories at once - I have a highschool AU I'm working on, because it's a cliche that begs to be written, but I don't know if I'll post that until it's finished. I might start posting it later. _

_Anyways, HUGE thank you to everyone who reviewed and such - I take the time to respond to all of your reviews, so check your inbox! And I do love it when you guys reply to my review reply, so thank you to those who did :)_

_ENJOY!_

"_Blah" – talking_

'_blah'_ – thinking

'**blah' **– Kyuubi talking

* * *

Last time:

_Pakkun suddenly looked up, and straight forwards from where he was crouching._

_"This way." And he dashed._

_There was no hesitation before Sasuke followed._

* * *

Chapter 6: Dirt

There was a point where Pakkun began speeding up significantly. As if guessing Sasuke's silent question, the pug spoke:

"The smell is stronger. He smells of fear, and blood."

Sasuke's heart thrust itself against his chest significantly quicker at those words, and he began to sprint. He could no longer be patient enough to follow Pakkun.

He picked the dog up as he passed, and spoke firmly;

"Tell me where to go,"

Pakkun's face was surprised at first, before his face hardened into a determined expression.

"He want straight for a while now, but we're getting closer."

Sasuke said nothing to this, simply upping his speed. He vaguely realized that he was no longer in the main town; there were no stands, no festivities going on in this area. It was eerily silent, he suddenly realized, and the thought made him nervous.

"Right," Pakkun spoke, and Sasuke turned the corner. He saw a few people in the distance, but no one other than them.

"He's where those women are," Pakkun said, and Sasuke pushed himself to the limits of his speed, dark grey eyes being replaced by the red of his Sharingan.

* * *

Naruto was gasping for air. His nose was healed, shoulder back in place, but blood still covered his face, mixed with dirt and sweat. He didn't know how many ribs had been broken, only that there was a searing pain where they were, and that his entire body felt black and bruised. Kyuubi had stopped speaking to him long ago in order to turn his attention to making sure Naruto would survive.

Naruto yelped as he was grabbed by the hair and pulled off the ground to stand up. His hands gripped and scratched at the one causing him pain, it felt like the skin was being slowly ripped off of his scalp, but his hands were grabbed by others. Fingers were twisted backwards as extra motivation to keep his hands away and not fight against them. With a painful pop, he felt his right index finger throb in pain. He reflexively went in on himself as a knee thrust into his stomach, hitting his already broken ribs. He heaved and coughed, his vision blacking in and out, his body was shaking, eyes wide in an attempt to be able to see. His vision focused enough to see an object being held in front of him, and he went still.

It was a knife.

Kyuubi suddenly resurfaced. **"Naruto, I don't give a fuck about anything else, I will take over if you don't get out of there NOW!"**

Naruto writhed, convulsing and pulling away from his attacked. The adrenaline pumping through him seemed to numb his pain and clear his vision, but he didn't care. He was focused on escaping.

"Get away from me..." he groaned, before his voice rose with a new wave of strength. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" He screaming, ripping his body from side to side. He wanted their hands off of him, he wanted to escape, he needed to escape right now.

The blade pressed against his neck. The man hissed a threat, Naruto didn't hear it. But his body stilled. He wasn't stupid or suicidal enough to flail his body right into the knife. A hand still gripped his hair, wrenching his head backwards, straining his neck. The rest of them held his arms and feet down. His eyes widened as he was suddenly made aware of a fresh wave of pain coming from his foot; which had been bent in the wrong direction.

The man holding the knife smiled, until-

* * *

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Sasuke heard the scream and ran faster than he had ever ran before. That was Naruto's voice.

He came to the group of women, older women, who looked at him with confused, and slightly fearful expressions. He pushed past them, he felt a few hands try to grab him and he violently jerked away from them into the dark alleyway. Pakkun growled threateningly at the women, smelling the guilt on them. Sasuke reached Naruto, and was greeting with the most sickening sight he had ever seen since he had found his family lying twisted and dead, with his smiling, thirteen year-old brother in the middle of it all.

Naruto, bloodied and distorted, was pressed against the grey, stone wall. His head was jerked backwards, face contorted with agony, mouth open in a silent scream. He was being held in place by clenched, angry hands. There was a man who held a knife against Naruto's throat, who also held a smile until-

He was smashed to the ground with a snarled, "Get the FUCK away from him!"

The killer intent had them frozen in place, almost unable to breathe. Sharingan spinning, Sasuke ripped the knife from the now groaning man's shaking hand and turned to his companions, who were now mumbling and backing off in fear. Naruto sagged to the ground, mouth open with half-lidded, dazed eyes.

Pakkun had jumped from Sasuke's hold and sank his teeth into the arm of one of Naruto's holders, with no intention of letting go. The man screamed and waved his arm, which did nothing except made Pakkun's deep growl louder, and angrier.

Sasuke knocked two men out by throwing them into the wall with such force that they sank to the floor, unconscious. Men began trying to flee, and Pakkun let go of the man's arm in favour of making sure the men didn't escape. The women keeping watch had decided that attempting to help their companions would be the equivalent of a death wish, and had fled long ago, but Pakkun had memorized their faces, and smells.

Sasuke grabbed one man and slammed him into the other, causing them both to fall to the ground, dazed. Sasuke delivered a swift blow to the man who had originally held the knife, who was trying to stand, to render him unconscious.

It was not long before Sasuke had knocked the rest of them out, and stood above the bodies, red eyes glowing with fury.

Pakkun attempted to speak, but Sasuke cut him off. He whirled around and growled, "You tie them up and bring them to the Hokage before I slaughter them all."

Abandoning his usual guise that he was just a dog and could not do such things, Pakkun nodded. The black haired boy was truly terrifying when angry.

Sasuke turned back to the now seemingly unconscious blonde boy. Guilt washed over him in waves, but he threw it away, now was not the time for such things. He needed to figure out how to move Naruto without injuring him further.

* * *

Author's Note:

_So, what did you think? Good? Bad? In the middle? Anything that could be improved? I've never really written an action scene, so how did it turn out? I know there's not very much action...basically Sasuke kicking ass, and everyone else going 'whoaaa nelly'._

_Man I have been watching way to much YGOTAS..._

_I LOVE YOU ALL! Till next time,_

_- Kinomi_


	7. A Foxy Intervention

**How to Break a Mask**

**Author: **_Kinomi Akai_

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Naruto, the characters would solve their differences not with epic ninja battles, but with epic ninja dance offs._

**Summary: **_An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe_

**Parings: **_Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru, GaaNeji, ShikaIno and other pairings in later chapters_

**Warnings: **_Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it. Ah, yes and Sakura bashing._

**Author's Note: **_It's been a while again, but that's because I refuse to post a chapter until I have the next one written. School's brutal again this year, I know I always say that haha. I'm also attempting to make the chapters longer, not sure if it's working, but I am XD_

_Anyways, enough of me, I hope you enjoy~!_

"_Blah" – _talking

'_blah'_ – thinking

'**blah' **– Kyuubi talking

* * *

Last time:

Sasuke turned back to the now seemingly unconscious blonde boy. Guilt washed over him in waves, but he threw it away, now was not the time for such things. He needed to figure out how to move Naruto without injuring him further.

* * *

Chapter 7: Office

"Wait, they did what?" Tsunade growled angrily, and Sakura stared at Kakashi, confused.

"They brought out an empty plate, and acted as if it was normal," the jounin repeated, this time continuing on. "I went back into the kitchens to talk to the staff. You really have to do something about the prejudice here, Hokage-sama. It's not right."

"Of course it's not right!" She exclaimed, but Sakura interrupted.

"But I thought Naruto just ate quickly...that's what he said, isn't it?"

"He tried to play it off?" Tsunade asked, incredulous.

Kakashi nodded, and stated, "It means he's used to that kind of treatment."

Sakura kept her mouth shut and tried to shun the guilt that was threatening to overflow. She didn't treat Naruto very well, sure, but that was because he was simply so annoying...everyone had matured in the past few years, but Naruto always stayed the same. It made it hard to treat him any differently than she ever had, because he always acted the same. He was so loud, and as much as she admired some aspects of it, over the years the novelty of his virtues dampened, leaving only her contempt of his flaws.

But hearing what he had to go through, although she still didn't understand why the village treated him so badly, made her feel increasingly guilty. She was supposed to be his teammate, and she was just another part of the village who tried to drag him down. On the other hand, he was so clumsy and weak most of the time...

Sakura's internal battle went unnoticed to the two adults in the room.

"Where is Naruto, anyway?" Tsunade asked in a defeated tone, slumping down to rest her elbow on the table, and hold her head up with her hand.

"He got lost, Sasuke's finding him." Kakashi told her.

Tsunade's eyes snapped up and she stared at him. "He got lost." It wasn't a question.

An odd realization seemed to strike Kakashi, and his only visible eye widened. Before he could speak, however, the doors were crashed open, and several bodies fell through, onto the floor.

"Whew," said Pakkun.

Sasuke ignored everyone but Tsunade, strode up to her and gently placed the beaten Naruto on her desk. He didn't have to say a word before she leapt to her feet and began to examine him.

Sakura had frozen, and nearly fallen down in shock. "Wha-what happened to him?" She asked.

Sasuke didn't reply, instead watching Tsunade at work intensely.

Kakashi had begun to quietly speak with Pakkun, who was gesturing to each of the men with his head. The jounin's expression was unreadable.

"He'll be alright," Tsunade spoke at Sasuke's benefit, "he's already starting to heal."

As if on cue, Naruto's eyes flickered open. But the eyes that he saw through weren't blue: they were red. Tsunade took several steps backward and took in a breath, hands poised, ready to defend. Kakashi had looked up when he heard the Hokage, and he had immediately taken a defensive stance. The now red eyed boy slowly sat up on the table, and glanced around at them. Sasuke and Sakura were completely confused, while Tsunade, Kakashi and Pakkun were poised ready to fight, if needed. The unconscious men were still tied up in a pile, in the corner of the room.

"Na-naruto?" Sakura spoke for the first time in a while.

"Naruto's asleep right now," Not-Naruto said. It was Naruto's voice, only magnified and given a distinct growl to it. Kyuubi turned Naruto's head to look around at them, and spoke, annoyed:

"Oh calm down, all of you! I'm not about to eat you, for crying out loud," Naruto's body turned to face Tsunade. "Now, it's you who I need to talk to."

"What is it?" She asked guardedly.

"The Kit doesn't want to leave your village. He'll likely never forgive me if I made his body do such a thing," the eyes of those in the room widened. Sasuke and Sakura, out of shock that there was someone else in Naruto's body, and Kakashi and Tsunade at the relationship Kyuubi was implying she had with Naruto.

"But," the fox continued, Naruto's voice now getting deep and dangerous, "I will not just sit by while this village treats him this way for any longer. It is disgusting and shameful," Kyuubi's red eyes narrowed at the thoughts she realized they must be thinking, "And yes, perhaps it is all my fault. But it is mine, then. Not his. We are two separate beings, he just happens to use my power. That is all. Now staying like this is extremely strenuous on my chakra, and I need to heal the Kit fully, so Naruto will wake up soon."

Kyuubi turned to face Kakashi. "You're a good man, just not as good at looking underneath the underneath as you'd like to think. You should also be grateful that I was here to correct the gaps in Naruto's education, when you completely ignored them in favour of thinking him stupid. Still, I thank you for looking out of Naruto."

Sakura was spoken to next, with a wide foxy grin that showed all of Naruto's teeth. "I think Naruto and I can honestly agree when we say you need to shut up a lot more often. Book smarts and street smarts are two very different things, and your social skills are the equivalent of those of a spork," the grin suddenly turned mischievous, "and dear Sasuke-kuuuuun will never love you, nor does Naruto anymore; if he ever did. Get a move on."

Finally, Kyuubi turned to Sasuke, and his gaze turned serious, and soft.

"Sasuke Uchiha," the demon fox spoke, "you don't know who I am, but you would have to find out sooner or later. I would like to thank you for all that you have done for Naruto. There are many other things I would love to say to you, but I believe Naruto would never allow me to see the light of day again if I said them," even as Naruto's voice said this, the demon felt a playful impulse that caused her to raise Naruto's hand to cup Sasuke's chin, and peck him on the cheek, before promptly laying back down on the table and covering her eyes with Naruto's eyelids. Naruto had woken up just after Kyuubi had said thank you to Sasuke, and was now yelling obscenities into their mind. Kyuubi sank bank into their mind with a smile still on her face, and switched places with Naruto.

Naruto's eyes flickered open, and this time it was the bright blue that everyone was used to. He groaned as he realized what Kyuubi had just done, sat up, looking at them all with a grimace, and spoke.

"Um, hi?"

Silence reigned, and they all stared at him until Sakura finally spoke.

"What in Kami's name was that?"

Naruto put his head in his hands as a response, and mumbled something. Tsunade cleared her throat, and he looked up at her.

"I think it's time for you to tell them, Naruto,"

He grimaced, and put his head back in his hands.

"Tell us what?" Sakura asked.

Naruto didn't reply.

"A kit is a baby fox," Sasuke spoke quietly, "so there is some sort of fox spirit inside of you..."

Naruto smiled bitterly into his hands and looked up at the ceiling before speaking. "Close. Kyuubi no Kitsune. You all know the story, right? The Yondaime fought it in order to save the village."

"But he didn't kill it." Sasuke watched Naruto intently.

The blonde boy in question tilted his head to look down at Sasuke, "No, he didn't." Suddenly, he straightened up and pulled his shirt over his head, revealing the markings on his stomach. "This is the seal that was used to bind Kyuubi into my body when I was just born, the seal required a sacrifice, so the Yondaime gave his life in order to complete it. But Kyuubi...she's not as evil as the storybooks tell us, you know..."

**'I wouldn't be so sure about that.'**

"She?" Kakashi asked, startled, and Naruto snorted.

"Yeah, Kyuubi's a girl. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, right?"

"Shakespeare?" Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the reference.

"I do read from time to time."

"Could have fooled me."

"Teme."

"Dobe."

The normality of their argument relaxed Naruto a great deal. Sasuke didn't seem shaken at all by what Naruto had just revealed.

Sakura suddenly interrupted them. "Wait, how come you've never had that seal on your stomach before? We've seen you go swimming and stuff-"

"It only shows up when I'm using Kyuubi's chakra. She's healing my injuries right now, so it will likely stay visible for a while," Naruto explained.

He saw Sasuke open his mouth slightly, and then close it, as if he had thought better of what he wanted to say. Naruto could guess what he was going to ask; he had seen Naruto fight. Sasuke knew Naruto was stronger than that; so why didn't he fight back?

Naruto swallowed. His answer would be warped and not exactly satisfying, Kyuubi had told it that it was, more than once.

"So Kyuubi can just take you over, whenever she wants?" Fear stained Sakura's voice.

"Not whenever she wants," Naruto answered, "only if she has my permission. Before I passed out I told her she could take over my body, if needed."

Tsunade had sat back down at her desk, and was currently reaching for her favourite drink. Kakashi spotted this, and quickly took over Shizune's job, who was currently off work, in stopping her.

"Hokage-sama," he spoke, "perhaps you should give another speech or take care of this problem before you get...inebriated."

She stared at him, and then a smirk crossed her face. "I suppose you're right," she said as she put the sake back, "I wouldn't get the full enjoyment in punishing these bastards. When are they going to wake up?" She asked, turning to Sasuke.

Sasuke shrugged. He hadn't been thinking of how hard he hit, he was too busy trying to stop himself from killing them.

As if guessing his thoughts, Tsunade snorted. She looked around the room once more, and then sighed. "I'm going to have to make a lot of changes around this village, aren't I..." It was a statement, more than a question, and no one answered her.

Sakura suddenly raised her voice. "Wait, what did K-Kyuubi-"

"Hahahah, she stuttered,"

"-mean when she said that Sensei didn't correct the gaps in Naruto's knowledge, but she did?"

Naruto sighed as they all turned to look at him, all wondering the same think. "Kyuubi has been my Sensei for a while now,"

"What?" echoed around the room, coming from several different sources, but Sasuke wasn't one of them. His now dark grey eyes narrowed at Naruto. Having the nine-tailed fox demon as a teacher could not possibly result in a weak student. Naruto had been hiding his power, and judging by the looks on everyone else's faces, they had suddenly realized that as well.

Naruto interpreted the looks correctly, and his voice went slightly quieter; "so, yes, I am a lot stronger than I have let on,"

Sasuke's eyes suddenly brightened and his regular smirk spread across his face. "I want to fight you at your full power, then."

Naruto looked at him, and matched his smirk. "If you think you can handle it, teme."

Sasuke nearly said something, and then leaned back and crossed his arms. "Well, I can't really call you dobe anymore, can I..." it was a statement, more to himself than anyone else, but for some reason, warmth spread across Naruto's chest. He didn't know why Sasuke acknowledging his power made him so happy, only that it did.

But Sasuke continued, "then again, I don't have proof yet, do I, dobe?"

"Tch," Naruto smiled, "we'll wait until the fight then."

Sakura looked back and forth between them, confused. Didn't this change everything? Why were they acting like nothing was wrong, like nothing ever happened? Naruto had lied to them from the moment he met them! Her confusion turned to anger, and it caused her to momentarily forget why she had been feeling absolute guilt a moment earlier. She didn't like being wrong: she didn't like to apologize. Her thoughts swirled between blaming herself, to blaming Naruto. She didn't know what to believe, or what to think. She had never liked Naruto in the first place, but she thought she had known him. It was hard to find out something you thought you knew perfectly was a complete lie. She stared at Naruto, not knowing whether to glare or to look apologetic.

But before Sakura could say anything, Tsunade suddenly stood, and wrapped her arms around Naruto. "I realize you're not the person we all thought you were," her voice was muffled slightly by the hug, "but you still mean a lot to us; especially me." She pulled back and looked at his face. "I'd like to get to know you better, if possible, Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded, his throat suddenly dry. As much as he acted in front of her, he knew Tsunade cared for him, and he cleared his throat to whisper; "thank you, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade stepped away, and nodded. "You're dismissed," a thought seemed to pass her mind, and she added, "you have the week off. I think you all need a chance to redo the whole introduction thing, hm?"

Just before they went out the door, the blonde Hokage spoke again. "Oh, and Naruto? Happy birthday."

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_Huzzah, the plot is finally on its way~_

_Realistic? Yes, no? Comment & criticize me :) Hope you liked the update!_

_- Kinomi_


	8. Clarification and Confusion

**How to Break a Mask**

**Author: **_Kinomi Akai_

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Naruto, the characters would solve their differences with dance offs._

**Summary: **_An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe_

**Parings: **_Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru. _

**Warnings: **_Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it. Former chapters had mild Sakura bashing, that will start to ease off in this chapter._

"_Blah" – talking_

'_blah'_ – thinking

'**blah' **– Kyuubi talking

* * *

_Last time:_

_Tsunade stepped away, and nodded. "You're dismissed," a thought seemed to pass her mind, and she added, "you have the week off. I think you all need a chance to redo the whole introduction thing, hm?"_

_Just before they went out the door, the blonde Hokage spoke again. "Oh, and Naruto? Happy birthday."_

* * *

Chapter 8: The Apartment

As the team left, Tsunade collapsed her head into her hands. She really needed to think. The villagers had been getting away with far too much for the past few years. She would have to be talking to the Uchiha to get names, and Kakashi as well. Perhaps even Iruka might have noticed certain people who treated Naruto differently.

There was a very large part of her that wanted to cry and yell at the injustice of it all. That side of her was urging her to leave, get some sake, and spend tonight doing absolutely nothing productive. But it had been Naruto that had convinced her to stop listening to that side of herself, and she would honour him by acting properly.

She lifted her head with newfound determination as she began to plan.

* * *

The door closed behind them and they walked in awkward silence. It didn't take a genius to guess that they were embarrassed that all of them had forgotten Naruto's birthday. He sighed.

"Don't worry about it," Naruto said, correctly guessing the others' thoughts. "I don't think I ever told you when my birthday was."

"We never asked," said a quiet voice that Naruto barely recognized as Sasuke's. There was an odd tone there that Naruto had never heard before, and caused him to glance back at the boy. Sasuke, however, was looking away, and his expression, whatever it was, was covered by his long black hair. Naruto sighed, and reached up to rub the back of his neck. He didn't really know what to say to that.

Kakashi, who had been fairly quiet for the past few minutes, spoke up. "How about we go and get some ramen?"

"We can get take-out," Naruto added, realizing that going to a public place for the inevitable conversation was probably not the greatest idea. Kakashi glanced at Naruto for a second, and then looked away. Sakura was not so reserved, and asked;

"Take-out? With how much you eat?" Sakura had meant it to be a question out of curiosity, but it came out more condescending.

Naruto bristled slightly, and responded sharply. "I can eat however much or little as I want. I eat that much for reasons which are none of your concern."

Kyuubi mentally added what Naruto wanted to. **'Bitch.'**

The awkward silence came back again. Naruto looked away from them, a bit embarrassed about acting out like that. But then again, he was supposed to be himself now, right? The jig was up; he couldn't get away with being the idiot anymore. At the very least, he knew Kakashi wouldn't let him get away with it. The real reason he ate so much wasn't because he loved ramen, or always ate loads, or anything like that. Naruto didn't know when his apartment would be broken into, when his money would be stolen, or if he would be sold spoiled food. Naruto didn't know how long it would be when he ate. So, he took advantage when he want to Ichiraku, because it was the one place he could trust fully. When you accidentally eat rotten fruit or meat, it takes quite a while until your stomach is willing to chance it again.

Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who broke the silence. "Let's go, then." He started to move without looking at any if them. Kakashi was the next to follow, and then Naruto quickly followed, not wanting to be near Sakura at the moment.

Kakashi was the one who paid for the food, coming out with a few boxes, with steam coming out the sides. The smell of spices was suddenly very strong in the air, and Naruto's stomach violently, but quietly grumbled. He realized he was extremely hungry.

**'Well, yeah. With all the chakra I've been using to heal you, you're going to eat a ton.'** Kyuubi reminded him.

"Where to?" Kakashi asked them.

Everyone's eyes shifted around, looking to each other. No one seemed to want to volunteer. Naruto sighed. He supposed it made sense. Sasuke didn't exactly share his house with others. Sakura was living with her parents, still. And Kakashi, well it was a bit awkward to go to their Sensei's house, like they were invading on his privacy. Kakashi was awfully secretive, too. Cursing himself as he did so, Naruto spoke.

"We can go to my place," he offered, grudgingly.

**'You're going to regret that.'** Kyuubi warned.

_'No, really Kyuubi? Why don't you make me even more pleased with the situation, hm?' _

**'Yeah, yeah.'**

His teammates' eyes locked on him, and Kakashi's visible eye curved up. "Thanks, Naruto." He said.

"Mm," Naruto made a non-committal sound in reply, not really knowing what else to say. "It's this way," he added, nodding his head to indicate the direction.

By this time, it was late afternoon, so more villagers were out. The result of this was that Naruto blended in much more easily, and was far more comfortable walking about now. The glares had lessened, mostly because they weren't in the heart of the town anymore, and also because the villagers had better things to do right now. This was the time when families went out, and, generally, the ones with families didn't target Naruto.

Team Seven got to Naruto's apartment building, and he could feel the critical stares. It wasn't in the best of shape, but he was allowed to stay there. It was extremely unlucky for Naruto that, for the most part, it was those of the older generation who owned things like apartment buildings. The older generation who remembered the terror of the Kyuubi-

**'Hah.'**

-and weren't willing to forget so easily. Naruto had to pay a bit more than normal pricing for a lot less than normal quality. He had a room on the bottom floor. While that saved him the stairs, it also meant he got robbed on a regular basis. Naruto learned to take everything of importance with him on the first week of owning this apartment. He got to the door. It was already open. Sakura gasped. Even she knew Naruto wasn't so dim to leave the door wide open. Unlocked, maybe, but not completely open. He pushed it open, and looked around. A couple of broken glasses, but really, not much harm done. Not that they could; he didn't have lamps anymore or anything of use. They could try to start a fire with the stove, but then they would have to deal with the landlord as well, and she was probably the one who told whomever it was that his lock was busted. He payed for it to be fixed the first six times.

"Ah, sorry about the mess, don't take off your shoes," Naruto advised. He carefully stepped in to survey the damage. Just a few cups. No more tea then, for now. He got his broom out of his closet, aware of his team watching his every move, and began to sweep up the glass.

"Who did this?" Sasuke's voice was little more than a whisper. If Naruto were to glance back, he would have seen Sasuke's hands balled into fists, and his teeth grinding painfully together. Kyuubi noticed the anger in his voice, but said nothing. She had meddled enough for now.

To answer Sasuke's question, Naruto shrugged. He didn't know who it was. And he didn't really care; it would keep happening no matter what.

"Naruto, this should be reported to the Hokage. It is very dangerous for someone to break into a ninja's home," Kakashi warned, but Naruto spoke.

"Don't worry, nothing of value is kept here," he told his Sensei. Really, he kept his valuables sealed in different scrolls that he kept hidden in separate areas around the village. His frog summons were also helpful in keeping hold of things.

"Where is it kept?" Sakura asked.

"Around," Which was true, but far too vague for his team to be satisfied with it. Still, that was all they were going to get out of him right now. But before Sakura could ask any further questions, Kakashi cut in again.

"That doesn't make it any more okay for them to do so. You should report this, Naruto," he insisted. Naruto shrugged. He wasn't planning on telling Tsunade anything, but he knew that wasn't what Kakashi wanted to hear. On the other hand, he really was getting sick of lying. So, he said nothing.

Kakashi sighed, and Naruto finished sweeping the glass and put the broom away.

"I'm afraid I don't really have much seating," Naruto apologized.

Sasuke pushed past the team and seemed to sag into the dirty couch. They looked at him oddly, but his long bangs obstructed their view of his face. After a long, slight awkward pause, he finally spoke.

"I want to talk to Naruto."

"What?" The boy in question asked, hoping he had heard incorrectly.

Sasuke finally lifted his head, his dark eyes meeting sky blue. "I need to talk to you."

Naruto swallowed, and didn't reply.

Kakashi's eye curved up, in a calmingly familiar way. "Well then, Sakura-san, it seems we're not wanted here. Shall we go?" He asked playfully.

"What?" Sakura asked, cluelessly.

"Just come on," her teacher steered her out of the house, quickly grabbing two ramen boxes for them. The arrangement was probably better for all of them. Naruto and Sasuke clearly needed to talk, and now would be a good time to get through to Sakura. She had to have matured somehow. It was now her teachers' job to find that part of her, and pull it out of wherever she had hidden it.

At last, Naruto and Sasuke were left alone. Sasuke had been waiting for this. And now the moment was finally here...

And he had no idea what to say.

Sasuke sat, slightly hunched, with his elbows resting on his legs, attempting to remember everything he had wanted to tell Naruto. Where could he start? Almost without his permission, a question rose out of his throat.

"Why didn't you fight back?" Sasuke found himself struggling to keep his eyes on Naruto, but he forced himself not to look away. He wanted to see the emotions as they crossed the tanned boy's face.

Naruto throat was dry. All of his carefully laid out reasons suddenly seemed feeble when said out loud.

**'That would be because they are feeble.'**

Kyuubi's agreement let a bubble of indignation rise in Naruto's chest, and he became more confident. He settled on the simplest answer.

"It would have made everything worse."

Sasuke stared at him. "How?"

"The villagers would have gotten hurt. Not only would I be highly under suspicion, but they would tell the others. They wouldn't stand for me getting away." His throat felt thick, and he swallowed in an attempt to clear it. "If I continuously hurt people while getting away, I would be put under trial...and then who knows what would have happened to me."

"So you..." Sasuke shook his head in disbelief. "You let them hurt you, because you were-"

"I don't expect you to understand," Naruto said angrily.

"No, I don't understand!"

Sasuke and Naruto were left at a furious standstill. Both staring at the other, but neither willing to let go of their opinion.

"I don't understand you," Sasuke repeated, his voice oddly softened.

Naruto looked away, a lump suddenly forming in his throat. He swallowed, awkwardly walking across the room in an attempt to do anything other than look back in Sasuke's confused eyes.

"Why didn't you tell Tsunade?"

Naruto didn't answer.

"Or Kakashi? Sarutobi?" Sasuke didn't let up. "How long has this been happening, Naruto?"

Naruto pulled a dirty cup from his shelf and attempted to scrub it.

"How long?"

He scrubbed harder.

"Naruto," the tone in Sasuke's voice was one that Naruto had never heard from him. He paused.

"Naruto," he repeated, "how long has this been happening?"

Naruto cleared his throat and stared into his ceiling. "I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

The blue eyes turned their gaze from the ceiling onto Sasuke.

"It depends on what part of it you're talking about, really. But things like this," he gestured around the room, "have been happening as long as I could remember."

Sasuke shook his head. "It's not right. It's not-"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "We're ninjas. Plenty of things that happen around us aren't 'right'."

"Not in our village!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Naruto stared at him. "Really."

Sasuke was silent, realizing Naruto was thinking of what had happened to Sasuke's own family.

"It's just another one of those things, Sasuke."

"No. No, it's not. Because you, Naruto, you could have prevented this! You could have told someone! Why didn't you tell someone?" He cried.

"Because no one wanted to hear!" Naruto yelled. "No one listens, and no one would do anything anyways!"

"They would have listened, if you had-"

"Who?" Naruto whirled around to face Sasuke. "Tell me, Sasuke, who exactly would want to listen to the whining village idiot?" Naruto snarled.

"I would have!" Sasuke screamed.

Naruto stared at Sasuke, and Sasuke glared back. The black haired boy turned suddenly, and strode straight through the apartment door, slamming it behind him.

Naruto was left in total shock, with nothing but two boxes of untouched ramen to keep him company. Naruto was in no mood to listen to Kyuubi right now, and she knew it. She kept quiet as the blonde boy sank down into his couch. His mind was racing, suddenly questioning the decisions he had been so sure of before. But more than that, his mind was on Sasuke. Just because they were teammates, just because they sometimes got along, that didn't mean they were friends. Not best friends, definitely not. Naruto didn't have friends, not with the persona he exhibited. How could Sasuke want to listen to him? Why did he care about Naruto's problems? He had no reason, to right to make Naruto feel...

_'Why do I feel guilty? I didn't do anything wrong.'_

The fox shuffled in the back of his mind, but remained silent. The guilt that Naruto had identified began to grow into a pulsing realization. He could have been wrong this whole time. What if he was? Wrong about Sasuke, wrong about everything - almost his entire life, wasted. All of his reasons, the reasons he thought were unshakable...they were worthless. They were weak and broken. They didn't even make sense, and he could barely remember half of them anymore.

He put his head in his hands. A soft, feminine voice spoke up.

**'The past is the past, Naruto. No one can change it, not even me. Letting yourself dwell on it only wastes your present, and ruins your future. It's over, Kit. That part of your life is over, and now, it's time to make sure it never comes back.'**

Naruto let out a shaky breath.

**'Right, Kit?'**

_'You're right.'_ He replied, and with another sigh, he lifted himself from the couch. He ran his hand through his hair and with one final push off of the dirty fabric, he went to make some tea for his last remaining cup.

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_I had a heck of a time this year. I haven't been into Naruto at all, and when looking through my past notebooks, I realize how much I've forgotten. It sucks. But I've started reading more fanfiction, and GOOD GOD are the Narusasu doujinshi's adorable or what! So I kind of am feeling a lot more inspiration now. Everything's coming around, please let me know what you think! Oh, and I've taken off some of the pairings I had before. Not because I don't like them, but because I think I should focus on Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, and I feel that adding others will detract from that._

_- Kinomi_


	9. An Interlude of Individuals

**How to Break a Mask**

**Author: **_Kinomi Akai_

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Naruto...I would probably pay a lot more attention to the plot developments..._

**Summary: **_An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe_

**Parings: **_Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru._

**Warnings: **_Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it. The Sakura bashing will end starting now._

"Blah" – talking

'_blah'_ – thinking

'**blah' **– Kyuubi talking

* * *

_Last time:_

_'Right, Kit?'_

_'You're right.' He replied, and with another sigh, he lifted himself from the couch. He ran his hand through his hair and with one final push off of the dirty fabric, he went to make some tea for his last remaining cup._

* * *

Chapter 9: The Training Grounds

Sasuke had immediately headed to the training grounds to blow off some steam. No matter what Naruto said, Sasuke couldn't understand his reasons. He was furious at Naruto, and furious at himself for being furious at Naruto. He didn't even understand his own reasons for being so angry. He didn't like caring about other people. Hadn't he made sure he wouldn't care about anyone else? Didn't he go out of his way to not make friends?

Villagers quickly moved out of the way as the steaming Uchiha stomped past. He barely noticed his surroundings until he reached his destination. Showing no mercy, Sasuke began mercilessly beating the wooden post in front of him. He payed no mind to the pain in his fists; his thoughts had fully consumed him.

_'But you do care about Naruto.'_ A traitorous voice interrupted his internal rantings.

Sasuke paused, and let his tired body lean against the mangled pole. His balled up fists fell to his sides in exhaustion as his adrenaline finally ran out. He may be stubborn, but he wasn't an idiot. Taking a deep breath in and letting it out through clenched teeth, he slowly realized what he needed to do.

* * *

"Sakura..." Kakashi started, as they walked side by side. "I haven't said anything because I was honestly hoping I wouldn't have to. I had hoped you would mature on your own, without my intervention."

"What do you-"

"Let me finish." He interrupted, turning towards her. "Haruno Sakura, you need a serious attitude adjustment. This belittling of Naruto and worshipping of Sasuke has got to stop. It's not making Sasuke notice you at all. In fact, you are only pushing him away. Do you think he wants someone who insults others to make themselves feel better inside? Yes, Sakura, I know that you only are rude to Naruto because you feel weak on Team Seven. Need I remind you who was at the top of your class? Who mastered the tree-climbing challenge first, showing that they have the best chakra control of the team? You do not have pure power like Naruto. You are not a genius in jutsus, like Sasuke. You are your own person, Sakura. And you will not fully succeed until you get over these silly insecurities about being good enough. Stop trying to prove yourself, and start being yourself. You are becoming an adult. It's about time you start acting like one."

And with that, the Jounin vanished, leaving a shell-shocked Sakura behind.

* * *

Tsunade was just starting to make a plan for revenge. She needed to make sure the message was given to the right people, however. She had her suspects, but she needed to know for sure.

_'There's no way I could get Naruto to tell me. Stupid brat is too noble. Maybe...'_

It was then that her thoughts were rudely interrupted by a Uchiha-shaped rocket bursting through the doors.

"I want names," was all Sasuke said.

Tsunade smiled, but it was not kind. "How convenient. It seems our interests are aligned."

She handed him the folder she had been working on. It contained her list of suspects, along with the general background of each individual and evidence as to why they would be implicated. Sasuke flipped through it. She saw his sharingan-red eyes speed from side to side, memorizing each page. Her smile grew wider as she realized just how furious the boy was. He glanced up at her after he finished his reading.

"I need to be sure." She said simply.

He nodded, and was gone.

It took him longer than she would have liked, to be quite honest. But she could hardly complain when she came back to her office; Sasuke had been so thorough that the stacks of paper on her desk were nearly taller than she was. With widened eyes, she turned to the man in question.

"There should be enough to have each one in prison," he spoke quietly, "and to have the certain...individuals put down."

She raised her eyebrows. Several of those people were very prominent in society. To have a powerful or simply rich member of Konoha killed was a very difficult task to accomplish. As Hokage, she really ought to interrogate Sasuke about his methods of information collection. As a friend of Naruto, she really could care less what he did to any of them. She was sure they deserved each and every thing that came to them.

Perceptive as usual, Sasuke spoke. "I didn't do anything illegal. There are several important clan members that were only too happy to help."

_'Clans, of course.'_ Tsunade thought. _'The Yamanaka clan's jutsus would make interrogation a joke. I'll have to remember to scout out that Ino. She seems sadistic enough...maybe I can convince Ibiki to take on a new apprentice.'_

The paperwork looked to be tremendous, and normally, Tsunade would have been at the farthest bar in town. Well, anywhere but near paperwork, really. But the thought of finally getting revenge for the treatment of Naruto was enough to convince her to do any amount of paperwork. That being said, she certainly wasn't above forcing the Uchiha to suffer with her.

"Summarize each file. We'll start with the most...important individuals, and hit them all at once. We don't want anyone to get any ideas of escape, after all." She said, making sure to call Shizune. They were in for a long few nights.

Sasuke moved his still-red eyes to the first file, and handed it to her, and began to speak.

Naruto was freaking out a little. It had been a week since he had seen Sasuke; he hadn't seen him anywhere. Despite training being cancelled, Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura had still met up at the bridge several times. For some reason, Kakashi never said a word about Sasuke's absence. Sakura had nearly done so several times, Naruto was sure, but she had always held her tongue. This new quiet side of her was very odd.

The last interaction Naruto and Sasuke had had was to yell at each other. That certainly didn't make Naruto feel any better about his current situation. He knew the Uchiha had issues with his emotions, hell, Naruto knew he had enough of his own, but he hadn't expected Sasuke to disappear like this. Despite Kyuubi's reassurances that he would have to run into Sasuke sooner or later, Naruto was nervous. He regretted what he said, what he didn't say...and he was more confused than ever.

Strange things had been happening to him recently. First of all, he kept seeing Kakashi-sensei everywhere, not just his training. They never interacted, but he was always around. The reasoning behind that was obvious, but he wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or happy about it. On one hand, it felt like he was being coddled like a child. On the other hand, maybe that was what being cared for felt like. Naruto was sure that Kakashi knew he was noticed by Naruto. Naruto was oddly comforted by the honesty that his sensei was showing by watching him in plain sight.

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Ino the other day. She noticed him from a few meters away, and specifically walked towards him. If that wasn't weird enough, she had hugged him and whispered that if he ever needed anything, she would be happy to help him. Naruto was sure that his smile was more than a little awkward when he had thanked her, but she hadn't been fazed. Then, a few days ago, Ino suddenly showed up at his apartment door with her team, and asked if he would like to have dinner with them.

"We were passing here on our way back from training," was the reasoning behind the request that she told him. Naruto didn't believe that for a second, but Kyuubi screamed at him until he accepted her request. Surprisingly, he had a lot of fun.

At one point, he had fallen back to walking beside Asuma. He had given Naruto a knowing look before saying, "She's gone a long way from her fangirl days, but something especially recent has changed her. I suspect it was something to do with one of your teammates."

When Naruto had tried to ask Ino if she had seen Sasuke or Sakura recently, she wouldn't give him a straight answer. While it might be his bias towards his teammates talking, that kind of secrecy probably meant Sasuke. He felt an uncomfortable bubble of emotion at the thought of Sasuke blatantly ignoring him, and yet, talking to Ino. Sasuke didn't even like Ino.

Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts. What was he, jealous?

**'Probably.'** A familiar voice echoed through his head. Despite the fact that the fox couldn't see his face, Naruto narrowed his eyes.

_'Jealous of what, exactly? Ino's being nicer to me than anyone else; Asuma said her fangirl days were over, anyways.'_

**'Not quite who I meant, but don't you worry your little brain about it.'**

"Hello N-naruto-kun." Naruto had been so entranced in his own thoughts and talking to Kyuubi that he hadn't realized someone was right in front of him.

"Oh, Hinata-chan!" He felt his familiar fox-like grin split his face. "What's up?"

Her eyes were much more focused that he remembered them being. He couldn't help but notice they didn't quite match the smile on her face.

"I am on my way back h-home," she gestured to the bags in her hands, "to...drop off what I've gotten."

Naruto glanced over the unmarked bags, noticing he couldn't tell what they carried.

"Do you need any help?" He offered.

She shook her head, a softer look coming into her eyes. "N-no, thank you, Naruto-kun. I will see you later."

"Ah, okay," he said as she walked past him.

_'Everything's so weird right now. It can't all be because of me...'_

**'You'd be surprised what an influence you have. You know everything can't be coincidental.'**

Naruto internally rolled his eyes, and went back home.

* * *

He was different now. The change in Naruto was glaringly obvious, and Sakura didn't know what to think about it. They had been told to always look underneath the underneath, and they had failed spectacularly. All of them.

She swallowed, thinking back to the dressing down Kakashi-sensei had given her. He was right, she knew that. She was ashamed at how she allowed her insecurities to control her actions. But changing out of that habit was proving to be harder than she had thought. She still had the urge to snap remarks at Naruto, she had even had the urge to blame him for the disappearance of Sasuke-kun at first. Luckily, she thought better of it. Kakashi-sensei had not even been surprised. He probably knew exactly what Sasuke-kun was up to, and, judging by his actions, he approved of it as well.

But Naruto...how had they failed him so badly? How had she simply accepted the glares and whispered words that followed him? Kiba-kun was loud and obnoxious too, and none of that followed him.

The pink-haired girl sighed. She wondered if there was anything she could do to help...but probably not. Tsunade-sama was already working on it, of course. Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun probably were too. What could they possibly need her for?

She suddenly stopped walking. She recognized those thoughts. They were the exact thing that got her into this mess.

With a furious turn, she changed direction, and marched towards the Hokage's office.

* * *

Both Sasuke and Tsunade jumped when the door suddenly slammed open, turning to stare with wide eyes at the disheveled figure in the doorway..

"What ever you're doing to help Naruto," the pink-haired girl said, "I want in."

* * *

"Welcome home Kakashi," Iruka greeted the silver-haired man at the door. The mood had been a great deal more sombre around the house since the events of Naruto's birthday. Kakashi hadn't been able to keep the secret from his lover, and Iruka hadn't exactly reacted favourably.

He could honestly say that he had never seen Iruka so furious. The mild-tempered man had scream curses, flailing against Kakashi's attempts to hold him back from going out and doing something that would more than likely land him in prison. It took nearly all of the silver-haired man's strength to keep Iruka in his arms, but Iruka's anger quickly dissolved into sobs. Kakashi held him close, and allowed his tears to fall as well. Both men had grieved over their failures towards Naruto that night.

A quiet calm had settled over the area, now. Their relationship had become only stronger from their shared determination to protect Naruto. Neither man could blame the other, for both had failed their charge.

And both would rather die than fail him again.

* * *

_A/N:_

_Am I on a roll or what? I hope it lasts. I'm completely addicted to ALL THE KINDS of Sasunaru fanfiction right now. This chapter is shorter than normal, mainly because I couldn't get over the feeling that it had to end there. HTBaM is kind of wrapping up now, it's crazy! Let me know what you guys think of it, and how you'd like it to end._

_Also, I hope I've made up for some of the mistakes that Naruto's friends made in the past (cough, Sakura, cough). What do you think of them now? Are they realistic?_

_Until next time!_

_- Kinomi_


	10. Love and Revenge

**How to Break a Mask**

**Author: **_Kinomi Akai_

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Naruto, it would be rated M for MASCULINE._

**Summary: **_An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe_

**Parings: **_Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru._

**Warnings: **_Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it. _

**Author's Note:**

"Blah" – talking

'_blah'_ – thinking

'**blah' **– Kyuubi talking

* * *

_Last time:_

_A quiet calm had settled over the area, now. Their relationship had become only stronger from their shared determination to protect Naruto. Neither man could blame the other, for both had failed their charge._

_And both would rather die than fail him again._

* * *

Chapter 10: The Uchiha Household

After Sakura had barged in, they were quickly joined by Kakashi and Iruka. It wasn't long afterwards that Hinata came to offer her clan's support. The team working to avenge Naruto's hurt grew to all those he had affected, and all those who cared for him. It was incredible how many ninjas came together, no matter their feelings towards each other, to support the blonde.

And his friends had not only physical power, but political power. It was their combined efforts that allowed the trials to be scheduled a mere month later. The plans had been treated with the utmost seriousness, and, as such, the trials were a complete shock to those being questioned.

Needless to say, the news of several consecutive trials of upstanding members of society was big news. It took about half an hour of Naruto being out of his house to hear about it.

It took him about half a minute to connect the names to the faces.

Suddenly, the kindness he had been treated with, the absence of important missions, the disappearance of Sasuke, the preoccupied sense he felt from his friends - they all made sense. And it was so blindingly obvious now, Naruto felt like an absolute moron for not realizing it before.

But was it so obvious? Revenge, for his sake? The dead-last, the moron, the number one most annoying ninja...

Naruto stood still for a few minutes as a cold hand gripped his heart in fear, while warmth spread throughout his body at the thought of being cared for.

**'A month later, and all of them on the same day, too. This was meticulously planned out.'**

Naruto tried desperately to stifle the smile that threatened to break out on his face. It seemed the warmth was winning against his fear.

* * *

_'How long has it been since I've felt like this?' _Sasuke thought to himself, as he willed his heart to slow its furious beating and the butterflies within him to stop ramming themselves against the walls of his stomach. He couldn't stop pacing. He felt so _useless_.

He knew, obviously, that he couldn't go bursting into a trial that had nothing to do with him. He specifically made it so that none of them had anything to do with Naruto, and therefore, a teammate of his had no say in them, no matter who the teammate was.

Naruto.

Sasuke's pacing stopped as he let out a long breath. He hadn't seen the blonde boy since they fought. The time had raced by, Sasuke so fully focused on revenge that he hadn't thought to go talk to him again. But that wasn't the only reason.

Sasuke grimaced. He had learned his lesson about unhealthy obsessions with vengeance and justice long ago. He knew he could get a little obsessive about the things he cared about; he just wasn't too comfortable admitting to himself exactly how much he cared about Naruto.

The fact that his blood boiled in the same furious way when he thought of Naruto's pain as it had when he saw Itachi scared him.

_'Am I ready to care so strongly for something again?'_

But it didn't matter if he was ready or not, because the feelings were there. He couldn't ignore them anymore.

They had always had a mutual understanding. An understanding about the pain of being alone, and an understanding about the different ways they handled it. They argued and insulted each other. Naruto would ramble on, and Sasuke would pretend to ignore him. But they weren't alone, and that was what mattered. They treated each other like a friend, instead of like an orphaned friend. Even Sakura, who had known them for years, would sometimes switch from lovesick eyes to a gaze filled with pity.

Sasuke _hated_ pity.

And Naruto must have known that, because he had never seen the blonde boy ever offer it to him.

It was with that thought that Sasuke left his house. He had to get out of here; he had to go do _something_. And, well, if he happened on a certain blonde with three whisker-like marks on each cheek, then that would just be a bonus.

* * *

"Dobe."

Naruto whirled around to see something he wouldn't forget for a very long time.

Sasuke Uchiha, the stoic, ice-cold bastard, was staring at him, and he was grinning. Not one of his usual smirks, not a slight upturn of the corners of his mouth to pass as a smile, but a full-blown, idiotic grin.

He must have noticed the way Naruto was staring at him, because his grin fell. Naruto found himself missing it.

"Sasuke-teme!" He responded, finally. "Don't scare me like that!"

The Uchiha paused for a moment. "It's been a while since you called me that." He thought out loud.

Naruto made a noise, as he looked away. "It's been a while since I've seen you."

"Hn." Sasuke conceded. After a moment, he continued. "Where are you going?"

"To train," Naruto grinned. "Wanna spar?"

"Bring it on."

And just like that, things were back to normal.

Well, kind of.

"Teme! I'll win next time!" Naruto said, from his very threatening position of lying on his back.

The black-haired boy in question rolled over from his formerly similar position, to one where he was facing Naruto. Propping himself up on his elbows, he spoke quietly, "Is that you talking, or that mask you put up?"

Naruto's wide grin faltered, and he swallowed nervously. But Sasuke didn't seem to need a reply.

"You don't need to pretend around me, usuratonkachi."

Blue eyes met dark grey.

"Sasuke-kun! There you are." A voice startled them both. "Ah! And Naruto too, hi." Sakura suddenly seemed more reserved.

Sasuke sat up, followed quickly by Naruto. "What is it, Sakura?"

"U-um," she bit her lip slightly, but continued nonetheless. "The trials have finished."

Grey eyes flickered to Naruto, but Sasuke was not a patient man.

"And?" He spoke urgently.

The pink-haired girl shared a relieved smile with her former crush. "Guilty. All guilty."

Sasuke's answer was a wide smirk as he laid back down to look at the sky. Naruto was glancing back and forth between them, as if unable to believe their exchange was real. It was this disbelief that gave Sakura the courage to sit down on Naruto's other side. She followed Sasuke's example, and looked up at the sky with a smile.

Naruto shook slightly, his eyes starting to sting. A lump formed in his throat and he blinked furiously. His teammates were simultaneously offering him comfort and privacy, after they had worked to get justice for him. And they had succeeded. He hugged his knees to himself, hiding his face and silently memorizing this moment.

He felt a hand on his knee, and looked up at Sakura. Her green eyes were scanning him carefully, but her smile didn't falter. Perhaps misunderstanding the reason for his turbulent emotions, she spoke, "You were never mentioned in any of the trials." Her smile turned slightly mischievous. "Sasuke made sure of that."

The sudden loss of the "-kun" suffix did not go unnoticed, but Sasuke's answering stare-down, although not quite a glare, was more of a result of her giving away how far he had gone to protect Naruto.

The blonde boy in question was fighting a fierce blush.

Sakura raised an eyebrow in response to Sasuke's stare before she looked away again. She didn't remove her hand. She made sure neither boy could see her smile widen into a smirk when Sasuke stubbornly placed his hand on Naruto's other knee.

_'If I can't have Sasuke for myself, then I'll make damn sure he gets who he truly wants.' _Although it made her uncomfortable, she had forced herself to admit her true feelings; she had never really wanted Sasuke because of his personality, or even his looks. She had wanted the acknowledgment that would come with being chosen by the picky Uchiha heir. But she had been selfish. She had been stupid and vapid, and there was no place for a woman like that on Team 7. And, although there was a place for Sasuke in her heart, it was a place for friendship, nothing more.

Naruto had frozen slightly when Sasuke had moved his hand to Naruto's knee. Had he turned to look at him, he would have seen the Uchiha's skin redden. Sasuke was tried to fight down a heated blush, but his pale skin only made it more obvious. He hadn't realized how possessive he was over the tanned boy until Sakura had moved to touch him. Sasuke felt a bubble fill up his chest at the sight, and before he knew it, he had moved to do the same.

His grey eyes were now fixed on the grass below him as he fought to keep his stance relaxed. That bubble had been jealousy. He had been jealous of Sakura. Why?

She had touched Naruto. Affectionately. The very thought made him want to hiss.

_'I care for Naruto. Why would I be upset at someone else doing the same? Shouldn't I want him to be happy?'_ But the thought of Sakura and Naruto happy, together, without him, send a vicious pain through his chest. _'Is it loneliness? Am I afraid they would leave me behind?'_

He thought for a moment. _'But no...up until a month ago, I couldn't have cared less for Sakura. So perhaps it's only Naruto. But Naruto is affectionate by nature...'_ He mused.

The subject of his thoughts suddenly stretched out, and laid down with his eyes closed. His teammates watched him for a moment, before his deep breathing made it clear that he had quickly fallen asleep.

Sakura grinned at Sasuke, before standing. "Well!" She said, "I think I can trust you to handle it from here, ne?" And with that, she left the clearing.

Sasuke watched her for a moment, before turning back to Naruto. _'I should take him somewhere to get a better sleep, but where? His apartment was a mess, and hardly safe,' _Sasuke nearly growled at the thought of Naruto's sparse and broken-down apartment. His expression cleared as he looked back at the sleeping blonde boy. Looking at his peaceful face, Sasuke came to a decision.

* * *

When Naruto awoke, he groggily looked around before he realized he had no idea where he was. How did he get in a bed? The last thing he remembered was falling asleep with his teammates beside him...

Ah, his teammates.

This must be one of their houses. Despite knowing them for years, he hadn't been to any of their homes. He sat up, looking around himself. The room was fairly big, sparse, and clean. It barely looked lived-in, to be honest.

_'Probably Sasuke, then.'_

A moment passed before his brain caught up to him, and his heart gave an aggressive thump. _'I was sleeping in Sasuke's bed_.'

**'Hmm, I wonder what the Uchiha wears in bed.'**

Naruto froze as images assaulted his mind of the black-haired boy in various states of undress. He fought down the heat in his face, cursing the fox inside him for causing the influx. _'Why did I react so strongly to that?'_ Naruto thought with a frown.

Wisely, Kyuubi kept silent. He would let Naruto discover his feelings on his own.

Naruto shook his head, and opened the door, peering out into the hallway.

"You're awake," Sasuke said as he approached the door.

Naruto looked at him. "You brought me to your house?"

"Hn." Sasuke shrugged. "I've been to your apartment." He pointed out.

Naruto's large blue eyes scanned the walls around them, before he turned back to Sasuke. They quietly looked at each other for a moment.

"Isn't it hard to live here?" Naruto broke the silence, his voice small and hesitant.

Sasuke stilled. Emotions flashed across dark grey eyes as they stared at Naruto.

"Sorry, I didn't...I mean, I-" Naruto stuttered sheepishly, raising his hand to scratch the back of his head. His bright eyes lowered to the floor, and he swallowed as the silence seemed to swell inside the room.

"It is."

Naruto looked up at the black-haired boy with wide eyes. He had his head tilted to the side, his grey eyes never leaving Naruto. Then tanned boy swallowed nervously.

"Then why...?"

"I have no where else to go." Naruto watched Sasuke's head turn skyward. His spiked, black hair was highlighted by the light shining through the window, and his pale features were only enhanced by the sun. "And either way, I have to live with the memories. This way, I'm forced to face them. I can't allow myself to forget, or get soft."

Naruto looked down at the hardwood floor. He refused to acknowledge the lump in his throat, but his voice came out much quieter than he intended. "But you don't allow yourself to move on, either..."

Sasuke's eyes closed, and his head rolled back down before they opened again. Naruto saw the movement, but didn't look up. He didn't want to see the Uchiha angry at him right now. Naruto knew he was pushing a sensitive topic, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. His mouth was dry and he forced himself to swallow again in an attempt to get it back to normal, before he spoke again.

"What's it like?" Naruto asked, finally lifting his eyes to meet the turbulent grey ones.

"What's what like?"

"Having memories of a family."

Sasuke stared at him, as if the possibility of having anything else had never occurred to him. His obsidian eyes bore into Naruto's as he struggled to organize his thoughts.

"It's...painful." He started. Naruto nodded, and took a step closer. There was a spark of desperation in his sky blue eyes: a fierce need for Sasuke to finish his thought. The Uchiha seemed to read his teammate's eyes correctly, for he continued talking, despite the inner turmoil that the topic caused.

"The memories...sometimes they are pleasant." His eyes were closed and his brow furrowed. "But even my best memories only serve to remind me of everything I lost. Everything that I'll never have again."

"That's not true." Naruto interrupted him. Grey eyes snapped open with a glare, but Naruto was determined. "Wasn't that one of your dreams? To restore your clan? You'll have a family again."

Sasuke stared.

Naruto stared back.

"Things fall apart. That's true. But when they do, you're given a chance to build them back up again." He took a step forward. "Bigger." And another. "Better."

The glint in Sasuke's eyes rose to the challenge. "I will if you will, dobe."

Naruto snapped back out of reflex. "Teme!"

"It's all well and good for you to preach on about moving on, about living how you'd like to," Sasuke advanced on the blonde-haired boy. "Except you don't live that way, do you? You live a lie."

Naruto stepped back.

Sasuke paused, and swallowed. "Whatever," he said, turning around and walking away.

"Don't ignore me!" It came out as a snarl, a much more vicious exclamation than Naruto had intended. But it had the correct effect: Sasuke spun around with wide eyes.

Now Naruto was on the attack.

"Maybe I do lie," he hissed, "Maybe I act all _happy_ and _idiotic _when I'm clearly not actually that way. Don't you call me _dead-last_? Aren't you used to me being this way? Is it not better to hate me than to admit that _maybe_ your perceptions for all of these years have been _wrong_?" He spat.

"I already told you I would have listened!" Sasuke suddenly screamed back. "I all but admitted that I care for you! Do you not realize that?"

Silence struck the room like thunder. Sasuke stumbled back with a bitter expression.

"Maybe it's you who needs to accept their perceptions have been wrong. Maybe I lie sometimes too. Maybe I've spent the last _fucking month_ trying to get justice for you!"

* * *

_A/N:_

_So can I just say how much I love all of you? Everyone is so supportive and sweet! All the reviews and PMs...I'm absolutely giddy when I read through them all. Keep it up and my ego will be through the roof! Gah!_

_So, originally, I thought this story was kind of coming to a close. But, as I write, I've kind of realized that Sasuke and Naruto still have a bit to go before they sort out their relationship. I'm considering adding some lemons to flavour the story...don't get me wrong, though, they're not just going to argue and then start making out. I want a bit of a slower romance. Do you agree? Smut or no smut? How is my writing? Let me know!_

_I LOVE YOU AAAALLLLL_

_- Kinomi_


	11. Dinner With a Dobe

**How to Break a Mask**

**Author: **_Kinomi Akai_

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Naruto, the characters would make love, not war._

**Summary: **_An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe_

**Parings: **_Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru._

**Warnings: **_Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it._

**Author's Note:**

"Blah" – talking

'_blah'_ – thinking

'**blah' **– Kyuubi talking

* * *

Last time:

_ Silence struck the room like thunder. Sasuke stumbled back with a bitter expression._

_ "Maybe it's you who needs to accept their perceptions have been wrong. Maybe I lie sometimes too. Maybe I've spent the last fucking month trying to get justice for you!"_

* * *

Chapter 11: The Kitchen

Naruto stared at him, but his eyes had changed. "I knew it was you!"

The Uchiha stared at him. "Did you?"

"Yeah..." He breathed. He continued on quietly, but Sasuke heard his words anyways: "You're the only one who'd care enough..."

"Tch, idiot."

"What?"

"The only one who'd care enough, dobe?" Sasuke smirked at the blonde. "Even you aren't that clueless."

Naruto stared at him without a response, so Sasuke continued.

"Do you want to know how many people volunteered to help you?" Grey eyes had darkened into black with an intensity that rendered Naruto unable to look away. He realized Sasuke was waiting for an answer, and shook his head mutely.

"Everyone!" Sasuke let his hands fly through the air in frustration that the blonde idiot couldn't see what was right in front of him, and Naruto took a moment to appreciate the usual stoic boy's loss of composure. "Sakura, Lee, Neji, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, hell, even Gaara showed up at one point! Hinata got her father involved, Kakashi was there...do you get the point, usuratonkachi? People care about you! You are important! And not because of your status, not because you have Kyuubi inside of you, but because you're Uzumaki Naruto. You're Konoha's number one most surprising ninja, and you are going to be Hokage someday." Grey eyes bore holes into blue ones as Sasuke's pale mouth spit every syllable. "Dattebayo."

Naruto let in a breath that sounded suspiciously like a gasp. Unconsciously, he felt his eyes stinging, but his conscious mind was completely unaware of the budding tears.

"Sasuke," the hitch in his voice was impossible to miss, and Sasuke's eyes widened at it.

"Dobe," he cuffed the back of the blonde's head in an almost affectionate way. "It's dinner time. Come on."

Naruto, for once, silently followed his friend.

"I'm not serving ramen," Sasuke stated.

Naruto let a slight smile spread across his face at Sasuke's attempts to put some normality back into the situation. He suppressed his initial, trained reaction to groan loudly, since he didn't need to make excuses for his appetite around Sasuke anymore. And he had a feeling that the Uchiha would not take kindly to being lied to about this, especially if he found out the truth through someone other than Naruto himself.

"Naruto?" Sasuke's voice broke his daydream, and Naruto grinned sheepishly before looking down at the floor.

"Actually, uh," He raised a hand to scratch at the back of his head. "I don't really like ramen all that much."

Black eyebrows rose incredibly high.

"Well, I mean, I like it. It's fine. But reason for the whole obsession was that Ichiraku isn't biased against me," he continued quietly. "I'm sure there are other places like that, but I really don't like doing the whole trial and error thing, you know?"

Blue eyes met Sharingan red. Naruto flinched.

"Sasuke? Are you okay?"

The pale boy's hands were in painful fists, and his jaw clenched. He closed his eyes and let out a breath. Naruto watched him calm down, mesmerized at the reaction that he had caused.

"Naruto." Sasuke's eyes were open again, and they were back to their regular grey. But the spark of emotion in them was far from regular. "Can I ask you to promise me something?"

Naruto licked his lips and nodded, not trusting his dry throat to allow him to speak normally.

"I want you to promise that if anything like this ever happens again, if you're ever served rotten food or no food, if you're hurt or even sneered at by a member of Konoha, I want you to promise, on everything that you are, that you will tell me."

Naruto was struck speechless by the furious fire in Sasuke's usually dead eyes. He felt stricken.

"I..." Naruto tried, but his mind was racing. He didn't know how to continue.

Sasuke's eyes became dull, and his body became stiff.

"Alright. I understand." The Uchiha rigidly turned on his heel and began to walk away.

"No, you idiot!" Naruto said, feeling his anger build up and reaching out to grab Sasuke and spin him back around. He strode forward until he was right in the Uchiha's face.

"You don't get it, do you? You can't just say all these things and expect me to react right away. My entire life has become completely fucked in the last month! Everything is completely different and I'm already struggled to keep up with _that_, let alone you suddenly deciding to act like you care about me!" He waved his arms around him, trying to express his frustration. "You can't just ask me to make an important promise in one second. Give me some fucking time to think about if I'll be able to keep it first!"

Naruto finished his rant and stood panting, determinedly staring into Sasuke's eyes. The pale boy looked at him for a moment, before smirking slightly.

"You have quite the foul mouth, dobe."

"Shut up, teme." Naruto responded automatically.

Sasuke let his eyes scan Naruto for a moment, before he spoke again. "Okay. Come on then, the food will get cold. Just tell me your answer eventually, will you?" He waved a hand to beckon Naruto to follow him down the hallway.

"O-okay," Naruto said, silently wondering if his heart would survive anymore Uchiha mood swings.

"Oh, one more thing," the black-haired boy casually looked back at Naruto over his shoulder. He continued walking as he glanced back, "if you'd like, you could stay here until you find a place that's more secure that than apartment you have. It's not like I don't have the space." Sasuke waved a hand to indicate the massive space around him.

Before Naruto could respond, they were in the kitchen. Naruto's overly-sensitive nose was assaulted by the diverse and absolutely delicious smells around him. He let out a gasp, before he could help himself, as he realized exactly how hungry he was.

It was a very good thing that Sasuke was not facing Naruto, for Naruto would have likely become very suspicious at the self-satisfied smirk that split the Uchiha's face. He quickly forced it down to a slightly smug look when he turned around to speak to Naruto.

"Well, dig in, then."

Dinner was relatively silent, aside from the noises of Naruto's eating habits. Instead of becoming annoyed as he usually would, however, Sasuke found himself amused, and almost proud, at the way that Naruto greedily tasted everything in sight. The main reason for the silence, however, was both boys' preoccupation with thinking of the other.

Naruto was trying organize his thoughts enough to figure out what he should do about Sasuke's offer and, more importantly, the promise he had asking of him. Naruto had never broken a promise; he took them very seriously. Trying to ignore Kyuubi's shouts of **'DO IT, DO IT!'**, Naruto furrowed his brow in thought. On the other hand, Sasuke was trying to decipher exactly when he had become so comfortable with Naruto that he had not only allowed him to see a part of himself that no one else had, but had even asked the blonde boy to all but move in with him. Granted, Naruto had always had a talent in forcing emotions out of the usually stoic boy. But to willingly ask Naruto to move in was to willingly accept those emotional outbursts that only the blonde could cause. And to move in with _him_, into his _dead parents_' house? Into the house where the Uchiha massacre had occurred, where all of his memories haunted him? He couldn't deny that his entire life seemed brighter with the blonde boy around him. No, he had been forced to admit Naruto's importance to him the moment that he realized his desire for vengeance in this case had been equal to that of the vengeance for his family. But did Naruto matter even more than his memories? For almost his entire life, Sasuke had lived with only the thoughts of what he had lost. Had Naruto wormed his way his heart before he had even noticed?

Grey eyes met beautiful blue, and Sasuke felt his heart give an enthusiastic thump.

The answer was undoubtably yes.

The tanned boy swallowed his food before he spoke, a courtesy that Sakura had forced him to obey long ago. "You're really okay with me staying here?"

Sasuke's face softened. "Yeah," he spoke softly. "I really am."

Whisker marks stretched as a wide grin broke Naruto's face. "Then I think I'll accept your offer," His grin turned mischievous as he looked down at his bowl. "If only for the food."

"Ah, I knew it," Sasuke put a hand over his heart as if wounded. "You only keep me around for my cooking."

Naruto froze.

"Did you," he stared incredulously. "Did you just make a joke?"

Sasuke raised one fine, black eyebrow. "Am I not allowed to make jokes?"

Naruto stared, and then grinned. "Nah, I just figured a teme like you had no sense of humour."

"Tch," Sasuke turned his head away, but the upturned corners of his mouth betrayed his true emotion. "That only goes to show what a dobe you are."

Naruto only grinned at the comment.

"Your bedroom will be the room you slept in today. Is that okay?" Sasuke asked, changing the subject.

"'Course it is, teme! Not all of us are as hard to please as you!"

"Maa," Sasuke waved a hand, a habit he had unconsciously picked up from Kakashi over the years, before bringing it back to rest his elbow on the table and chin on his hand. "I'm not hard to please. I just need a dobe to amuse me."

There was an awkward pause.

Sasuke's heart was working overtime, attempting to calm him down from his almost certain panic attack. _'This is exactly why I never act on impulse anymore; I always end up looking like a complete imbecile.'_

Naruto's thoughts were more along the line of: _'That...was that flirting? No way. No fucking way. I mean, I did wonder if he was gay after he didn't show any interest in the fangirls, but he didn't even look at the fanboys either! The guy's asexual, obviously, I don't know what he's playing at-'_

**'Hey, blonde idiot? Yeah, you. Flirt back before I take your body over and do it for you.'**

_'The hell, Kyuubi? I'm not going to-'_

**'OH FOR KAMI'S SAKE! You are so oblivious! I dealt with your crap about the villagers being totally **_**fine**_** for years! I'm not going to deal with your denial about the Uchiha too. Look, okay, here.'** Kyuubi sent an onslaught of questionable images, all containing the black-haired boy in question. Naruto felt his breathing quicken, and blood suddenly redirect itself to his cheeks, along with a slightly lower region.

With sudden lust and warmth humming through his veins, Naruto felt his confidence return. He let his eyes rise to meet Sasuke's, and let a wicked smirk grace his face. He felt vindictive pleasure at the shock that graced the pale features.

"Oh," Naruto said, letting the words roll off of his tongue as if he spoke them all the time, "And exactly what type of _amusement _were you thinking of, Sasuke?"

Sasuke let in a breath, and Naruto paused for a moment at what he saw in Sasuke's glittering eyes. It wasn't pain, nor was it anger; Naruto was more than familiar with the slight shifts in Sasuke's features that gave away those emotions.

_'Well. Looks like I'm gay.'_ Naruto thought to himself as his eyes raked up and down the pale form in front of him. He ignored the victory dance he could feel Kyuubi doing.

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Won't you answer my question, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke felt his breath leave him. He furiously swallowed in an attempt to get moisture back into his mouth. He was attracted to Naruto. He was _attracted_ to Naruto. He was attracted to _Naruto_.

"I," he breathed, but that was all he could manage. Sasuke found himself floundering horribly.

"Ah," Naruto let a sheepish grin grace his face again. "Did I overdo it?"

Sasuke's mouth twitched, against his will. He swallowed again, this time attempting to fix his dry throat and fight back a grin. What was it about Naruto that completely destroyed any composure he worked so hard to have?

Naruto laughed. "Don't get so worked up, teme! Girls flirt with you all the time, don't they?"

Sasuke caught himself, and rolled his eyes. "I wasn't worked up. Get over yourself."

"Alright, alright," Naruto waved a hand, not wanting to push Sasuke, but he couldn't quite get his grin to lessen completely. Messing with Sasuke was fun!

"Tch," Sasuke stood to pick up the empty plates, not allowing himself to look at Naruto. His chest was bursting with warmth and he had the overwhelming urge to laugh. Something had just passed between them that had never happened before, and it was exhilarating.

He noted, with some surprise, that Naruto had also stood to help clear the table.

Naruto's face hadn't lost it's amusement. "It's hard to imagine you doing something as menial as cleaning dishes."

Without missing a beat, Sasuke replied. "It's hard to imagine you ever cleaning at all."

"Hey!" Naruto protested.

"Idiot." Sasuke cuffed the back of the blonde boy's head with a smirk.

Naruto turned his sparkling blue eyes to Sasuke. The mischievous glint was the only warning the Uchiha got before he was tackled to the ground.

Sasuke yelped as he fell, but quickly regained control. Neither boy fought seriously, obviously, because that would result in complete destruction of each other and probably level the village, too. They wrestled back and forth, each familiar enough with the other's fighting style to be able to block and fight back without being harmful.

The battle deteriorated when Sasuke's hand brushed Naruto's side and he heard a pathetic attempt to stifle a giggle. Naruto shrank back at the look in his eyes, but it was too late. Sasuke pushed Naruto down, straddling him to stop him from getting back up, and began to tickle him mercilessly.

The Jinchuuriki desperately flung his body away from the tingling that Sasuke's finger's caused, but to no avail. He couldn't stop the laughter that burst forth from him as he flailed from side to side. He forced his eyes open and his body to ignore the sensation rippling through him so he could attempt to fight back. It didn't take long for him to realize that Sasuke was just as ticklish as he was.

It was a bit of a flaw for two fully trained ninjas to have, but no one ever seemed to think of such simple things. Naruto filed the knowledge away for the next time he wanted to justify his title as Konoha's most surprising ninja.

Sasuke was too busy desperately trying to stop his giggles from leaving his mouth. He was slightly succeeding, but he did look a little ridiculous with his mouth and eyes screwed shut as his body jerked itself both away and into Naruto's touches.

With a frustrated noise, Sasuke tossed himself off of Naruto to get away from his retaliation. They both lay on the floor, panting.

Naruto's cheeks were starting to hum with pain, but he still couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. He turned his head to watch the red-faced Uchiha beside him. Sasuke was breathing heavily, a hint of his former smile still on his face. He seemed to sense Naruto's eyes on him, because he turned to look at the boy in question.

Naruto let himself stare into Sasuke's eyes, which were so far from their normal state. Grey eyes that were normally so dull were shimmering with such strong emotion that they almost appeared black. Naruto didn't think he could look away if he tried.

"You should laugh like that more often," Naruto's breathless voice interrupted the silence.

Sasuke let his initial urge to close up fade as soon as it rose. He didn't want to do anything to wipe the look of bliss off of Naruto's face right now. He allowed the corners of his mouth to twitch upwards.

"So should you."

They stared at each other for a moment longer. It was then that Sasuke noticed Naruto's eyes were started to close.

"Idiot. You really haven't been sleeping well, have you?" He said quietly, almost to himself, as he sat up. Naruto answered him with an indistinct sound.

Sasuke let his fondness for the blonde show as Naruto's eyes closed completely. He snaked his arms underneath him and lifted them both up. It was a testament to how tired Naruto was when the lurch that Sasuke made as he stood up didn't wake Naruto in the slightest.

The sudden quiet was making Sasuke's thoughts start to race, but he refused to acknowledge them until he was alone. He slowly carried Naruto to his own bedroom, figuring that Naruto would be more comfortable staying in the room he had woken up in. Not to mention he had already told Naruto that that would be his temporary bedroom. He would have to clean up the guest bedroom for himself. He distantly wondered, as he placed Naruto onto the bed and pulled the covers over him, why he was putting the blonde so far before himself when he usually had such a history of selfishness. But his thoughts, his worries and his fears seemed to all fade into a distant hum in the back of his mind when his eyes scanned the peaceful face of the boy before him. Despite how much he called Naruto an idiot, the true idiot must have been himself, for not realizing how he felt long ago. By the time Sasuke had noticed that Naruto had captured his heart, it was long gone.

_'But then again,' _Sasuke thought to himself as he walked into the guest bedroom, _'the dobe does have a reputation for surprising everyone around him.'_

The Uchiha's last thought before he fell asleep was of Naruto unguarded stare of complete bliss as they lay on the floor together. Had he been awake longer, he might have been startled at how far he would go to see that look again.

* * *

_A/N:_

_OKAY SO I WAS AT CAMP and then life happened and I really meant to get this out sooner, so I'm sorry for that. There's a lot more interaction in this chapter, what do you think? Do they act the way you thought they would/want them to?_

_The general consensus of the last question was pretty much "SMUTSMUTSMUT" so I'll be working on my lemon-writing skills. Be sure to look for some smutty oneshots/twoshots to come (heh) on my profile! But in this story, you've still got a couple chapters before they'll even lock lips, so just be patient, okay? This will be a soft, slow romance, if I do it properly._

_Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for the reviews! I was never so overwhelmed with emotion as I was when I was reading all of your encouragement. I really hope I'll write up to your standards, but please don't be afraid to tell me if I don't. An author has to learn somehow!_

_School will be starting soon. I REALLY hope I'll be able to keep writing during the year, but I won't know until it happens. If I get super absent for a while, I'm really sorry. But hopefully it won't happen!_

_Until next time,_

_- Kinomi_


	12. Flirting With Fire

**How to Break a Mask**

**Author: **_Kinomi Akai_

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Naruto, the characters would probably be a lot less badass and a lot more into each other. Seeeeexually._

**Summary: **_An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe_

**Parings: **_Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru._

**Warnings: **_Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it. _

**Author's Note:**

"Blah" – talking

'_blah'_ – thinking

'**blah' **– Kyuubi talking

* * *

_Last time:_

_ The Uchiha's last thought before he fell asleep was of Naruto unguarded stare of complete bliss as they lay on the floor together. Had he been awake longer, he might have been startled at how far he would go to see that look again._

* * *

Chapter 12: The Bedroom

Naruto woke at daybreak, a side effect of having not only gone to bed early, but also having taken a nap the day before. It took him a moment to realize he was in the same bed as when he woke up yesterday: Sasuke's bed. He debated trying to fall asleep again, but the sun peeked through the blinds to hit his face, and the smell of Sasuke was suddenly overwhelmingly prominent, and he knew it was useless to even close his eyes. He yawned as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, leaning against the wall as the previous day's events flashed through his mind. He smiled slightly.

**'Oh no. Now I'm going to have to listen to you babble on about how attractive the Uchiha is, aren't I?'** Kyuubi groaned.

Naruto blushed, but fought back. _'So says the fox that was yelling at me to jump him all of yesterday.'_

**'I've been yelling at you to jump him for far longer, you've just been to oblivious to notice.'**

Before Naruto could respond, Kyuubi continued.

**'Speaking of jumping Sasuke Uchiha , you should go jump Sasuke Uchiha.'** Naruto's eye twitched. **'He must be awfully lonely in a big bed all by himself. You should share it with him. It would really be doing him a favour, sharing your body heat and all that-'**

_'Kyuubi, if you don't shut up this second, I will bash my head into the wall until I knock both of us out.'_

**'Such violence!' **Naruto growled.** 'Alright, alright.'**

With the sudden silence, and now being slightly more awake, Naruto's mind began racing. He wondered why he had completely disregarded the option of Sasuke being straight, and gone right to the possibility to Sasuke liking Naruto in that way.

**'Because if he was straight he wouldn't be a virgin right now.'**

_'Kyuubi!'_ Naruto hissed at the fox.

**'I'm not going to shut up if you're thinking stupid thoughts. He had half of Konoha's female population offering to bare his children at a moments notice. If he had any sexual drive whatsoever towards women, he would have had at least one girlfriend. Honestly.'**

_'I haven't had a girlfriend.'_

**'That's because you're as straight as your Rasengan. Which is a sphere.'**

_'Yes, thank you, I got the joke.'_

**'Come on, kit. I've been alive for thousands of years. I know what flirting is, and he was doing it.'**

In the other room, the object of their conversation woke with a loud gasp. His breathing came in loud pants, and he was almost drenched with sweat. He screwed his eyes shut and flopped back down onto the bed with a groan. His dream had been horribly, tauntingly, _brilliantly_ realistic. Enough so that his body had been certainly convinced, and had redirected his blood flow down to a certain nether region. Sasuke grabbed at his face and tried desperately to ignore the throbbing below, but his closed eyes only allowed his dream to replay itself in beautiful tanned, golden-haired flashes.

Sasuke slammed his fist into the bed.

_'I need a shower,'_ he thought desperately, as he dragged himself out of the bed. _'A cold, cold shower.'_

* * *

Naruto jumped slightly when he heard the shower turn on.

_'Sasuke's awake.'_ He thought to himself.

**'And naked. And wet. Why are you still in this room?'**

Naruto closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing. _'Kyuubi. Shut up. Now.'_

**'I bet the showers are big enough for two. Your loss, kit.'**

Naruto let a long breath hiss out between his clenched teeth. He was going to go mad by the end of this, he just knew it.

Kyuubi was pretty much the reason for his habit of jumping into situations running off emotions alone. The fox was more than willing to push Naruto, especially when it came to subconscious desires. In the back of his mind, he knew that she was only looking out for him; she only pushed him to do what would make him happy, even if he didn't agree with the decision at the time.

Thankfully, the fearsome nine-tailed demon fox kept quiet as Naruto took his own shower. After a moment's deliberation, he unashamedly used Sasuke's shampoo. It wasn't his fault they hadn't gone back for his things.

_'Okay, well, maybe it was.'_ He thought, eyeing yesterday's clothes with a frown. They weren't exactly clean.

As if sensing his thoughts, there was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Naruto?" Sasuke's muffled voice came through the wood. "You there?"

"Ah, yeah," Naruto stumbled over to the door and opened it a crack, twisting his body so it wasn't seen. "What's up?" His answer was overly casual, due to him trying his best to ignore the fact that he was talking to Sasuke while having a grand total of no clothes on.

"I put a change of clothes for you out here. I assume you don't have one."

"Ah, yeah, you're right." Naruto laughed sheepishly.

"Idiot." Sasuke smirked at him before he turned away. "I'll be in the living room."

"Okay, Sasuke-teme," Naruto mumbled as he dried himself off. Hearing a door close, he opened the bathroom door and peeked out. The coast was clear.

* * *

Sasuke let his back thump against the door to his room. He was so screwed.

He had barely gotten the slightest glimpse of Naruto. The boy had talked to him at an awkward angle, obviously so he couldn't see the rest of him.

Obviously because the other boy had been naked.

Sasuke put his head in his hands, hopelessly trying to push away the images of glistening tanned skin, water running down his neck. He couldn't let himself think of where that water would be dripping to next. He couldn't. But his thoughts weren't obeying him, and his mind started to wander back to the dream he had, but with a bed being replaced by a shower. He swallowed, and yelped as the door behind him opened.

He tumbled down, landing on a warm body instead of the wooden floor.

"What the hell, teme?" Naruto said, quickly pulling himself out from under the other boy before his body had the chance to react the way he knew it wanted to.

"Tch," Sasuke stood, letting his bangs obscure his reddening face. "Not my fault you change at hyper-speed." He mumbled.

"Aw," Naruto grinned as they started to walk down the hall. "Finally admitting that I'm faster than you, teme?"

"As if," Sasuke scoffed. "Dobe."

"By the way," a sudden thought appeared in Naruto's mind. "When do we start going on actual missions again?"

"Probably soon. But it's the slow season right now; you know that. It's mostly D-rank missions that are filed, and Hokage-sama knows our time is better spent training than doing those worthless things."

Naruto smiled at the pride that coloured Sasuke's voice.

"Are we meeting with Kakashi-sensei today, then?"

Sasuke glanced over at him. "If you want. What would you like for breakfast?"

"Um," Naruto blushed at the attention. "I'm okay with whatever you want..."

Sasuke sighed at the awkward sort of atmosphere between them. It was too early in the morning for any conversation that wasn't forced, it seemed.

They ate in silence, before mutually deciding to go get some training done. It was then that Sasuke voiced a thought that had been bothering him, perhaps longer than he knew.

"Naruto?"

The blonde boy spared him a sideways glance. "Yeah?"

"Have you...I mean, with everything you've been hiding...ah," Sasuke rubbed at his face in annoyance.

Naruto seemed to guess at his thoughts. "I haven't been faking my skills during training, if that's what you mean."

"Ah," Sasuke seemed slightly relieved at the answer, but he didn't feel completely satisfied.

Naruto looked at him for a moment, while Sasuke waited patiently for him to continue.

"I've...faked losses before. During spars, I mean." He agitatedly ran his hand through golden strands. "And I'm not really as clumsy as I make myself out to be."

"You've lost against me on purpose?" There was a note in Sasuke's voice that betrayed his emotion. However, he didn't seem to be completely surprised.

Naruto decided to throw caution to the wind.

"Yeah, but you kind of knew that already, didn't you?"

The blatant honestly made Sasuke stop walking and stare at the blonde-haired boy.

"It's not like I did it often." Naruto backpedalled slightly. "They were wins I wouldn't have gotten normally anyway. Sometimes you were angry. You're distracted when you're angry. And I didn't really want to be the guy you chose to take out your anger on, you know?"

The sheepish grin was back again, and Sasuke felt a pang of shame thrum through his body.

"I haven't been like that for a while, Naruto."

The grin faltered, and sky blue eyes looked at him seriously. "I know. And I've trusted you more than that for a while, too. That's why I haven't done that in a really long time."

Sasuke blinked.

"You trust me?"

Naruto's eyebrows rose. "Did you, or did you not, just spend the last month fighting for my sake?"

Sasuke suddenly glared at him. "I don't want your trust as _payment_, Naruto."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I know that, teme. Don't start putting words in my mouth!" He paused, crossed his arms, and looked away. "I trust you more than anyone else. You should know that."

But Sasuke wasn't content with that.

"Considering you don't trust anyone else at all, I'm not sure how I should take that."

"You are such a bastard!" Naruto breathed in exasperation, turning on his heel and striding closer until he was glaring directly into grey eyes. "Why on earth would I agree to live with you if I didn't trust you? That's a rhetorical question, asshole, don't answer it."

A tanned finger poked Sasuke's chest, hard.

"Stop being stupid. That's supposed to be my job. Now shut up and listen to me. Hiding a part of myself didn't make our friendship any less real. You are my best friend; that never changed. Every mission we take together, I trust you with my life. Every day for the past month, I've trusted you with my wellbeing. Every honest confession I've made so far, I've trusted you with my sanity. I trust you, okay?"

"But not enough to promise to tell me if anything like that ever happens again." The words were out before Sasuke could stop them, and Naruto sighed.

"That's not a question of trust, Sasuke. I'm still getting used to all of...this." He gestured his head to indicate their surroundings. Sasuke was quiet, and Naruto's eyes narrowed in determination.

"Okay. You know what?" He said, stepping away and crossing his arms. "We still need to get my stuff, right?"

Sasuke blinked at the change in topic. "Hn."

"Then come on, teme. Keep up with me!" And with that, Naruto abruptly turned on his heel, and was running in the other direction. Sasuke had no choice but to follow.

By the time Naruto randomly stopped in the middle of a forest, Sasuke was fairly confused. His pride, however, kept him from speaking up.

Naruto was leaning down, seemingly searching the ground for something. He stopped beside a tree, which looked exactly the same as every other tree in Sasuke's opinion, and knelt down. Sasuke saw Naruto make a hand seal and suddenly he was holding two scrolls that hadn't been there before.

"What are those?" The Uchiha asked.

Naruto grinned up at him. "Some of my things. This is one of my super secret hiding places. No telling!" He said with a wink.

Sasuke felt a part of him become warm, and he fought a smile as he finally understood. Naruto was trusting him with something he hadn't trusted anyone else with. He walked over to the blonde boy and studied the ground below him in silent question.

"See here?" Naruto pointed at a section of the ground that was almost completely covered by a tree root. Sasuke leant in, studying the area Naruto was indicating.

"Ah," he said as he spotted the remarkably small markings. "A storage seal."

"Yeah!" And without any warning, Naruto promptly turned on his feet to whack the leaning boy on the head with the scroll. No one could ever doubt the blonde ninja had speed.

"Ow!" Sasuke said, more in surprise than actual hurt. His backwards flinch at the hit caused him to loose balance, falling on his butt. "What was that for, dobe?" He growled.

Naruto's grin was mischievous, but there was a glint of something serious in his eyes. "That, you _teme_, was for doubting my trust in you."

Sasuke blinked.

Naruto stood and held out a hand. "We have to get more than just this. Let's go."

And, for once, Sasuke allowed himself to be pulled to his feet by the blonde boy. The simple action spoke louder than any words from Sasuke could have, at that point.

Despite the fact that both Sasuke and Naruto prided themselves in their speed as ninjas, and the two made a remarkable team, it was far past lunchtime when they finally finished bringing Naruto's things to Sasuke's house. Sasuke was absolutely burning with curiosity to see what was in the storage scrolls, especially the ones that were being kept with Naruto's frog summons, but he held his tongue as they ate. Naruto had shown him enough of his life today; he didn't want to push him.

"Oi, teme, want to help me unpack?"

No amount of torture that could get Sasuke to admit how excited he felt as soon as he comprehended those words. It took every fiber of his being to fight from grinning so wide, it would rival Naruto's biggest smile. But the blonde boy seemed to realize how happy he had made the raven, because he had no qualms about grinning like an idiot.

Attempting to save his pride, Sasuke made a comment about how _of course _Naruto, being an idiot, needed help for the simplest of tasks. Naruto only visible reaction was his grin quirking more to the left side, which immediately put Sasuke on his guard. He had been around Naruto long enough to recognize when the blonde was feeling mischievous.

"Maybe I just want you around me more, hm?"

Now _that_ sounded suspiciously like flirting. Sasuke diligently refused to move his gaze from the scroll he was holding as he tried to suppress the heat rushing to his cheeks. He didn't trust himself enough to answer.

Surprisingly, most of the items Naruto had hidden away were regular, everyday things. There were some pictures, mainly of team seven, but some also of Naruto and Iruka or Jiraiya. There was clothing, some non-perishable food...honestly, Sasuke was a bit disappointed. A part of him had expected some secret jutsus or high class information that Naruto had access to. That same part of him wondered if the Jinchuuriki had brought him to the less important areas in an attempt to appease him, while secretly hiding the things that actually meant anything to him away from Sasuke.

"Kind of anticlimactic, isn't it?" Naruto's quiet voice broke his voice, but those aquamarine eyes weren't looking at him.

"What is?" Sasuke asked, even though he had a good idea of what Naruto was talking about.

"I've hidden away all these random things. Were you expecting something more?" Naruto turned to Sasuke, amused. The pale boy took a moment to appreciate how flattering the expression was on the scarred face.

"A little," he admitted, quietly.

Naruto gave him a brilliant smile.

"I don't really have access to important scrolls; at least, not for an extended period of time. I can borrow them, but I can't keep them. It's probably the same for you, isn't it?" He continued, without waiting for an answer. "Baa-chan is pretty fair when it comes to these things. All of your scrolls are mainly passed down through the family...my parents didn't pass down anything like that to me. So this is my stuff."

Sasuke nodded his understanding, trying to pretend that hadn't been on his mind. Naruto could read him so well, it was becoming a bit creepy.

"How long have you been hiding your possessions away?" Sasuke didn't look at him as he asked, afraid that Naruto would get defensive and close off again. He could feel the blue eyes staring at him with such intensity that Sasuke thought he might burn a hole in his skull.

"Why did you give up on your revenge?" Naruto finally countered.

Sasuke made a startled noise. Anger started to well up in him, but he screwed his eyes shut and forced it back down. He wasn't prying; he was asking for something personal in exchange. It was only fair.

Sasuke forced his jaw to unclench, and let his eyes rest on Naruto. Somehow, the sight of no hostility, only hesitant curiosity in the tanned boy calmed him enough to speak.

"I didn't. Not really," He looked down at his pale hands, willing them not to fidget. Uchihas didn't fidget. "I don't know how I'd react if I saw him again. But I won't let it rule my life anymore. Not after..."

He trailed off, and Naruto came closer, putting a hand on his shoulder. He didn't need to recount how he had almost betrayed Konoha. Orochimaru's cursed seal hadn't only impacted his chakra; it had also impacted his mind. It fed on his hatred and amplified it, using it to slowly warp his mind. Thinking back, his own thoughts terrified him. He had almost been willing to kill Naruto for power. He had been slowly convincing himself that the Mangekyou was the only way he could defeat his brother. The thought that Konoha was weak and he needed to get out, much like his brother had, in order to gain true power had poisoned his mind and he had accepted it as truth. It was an absolute miracle that Jiraiya, the seal master and Orochimaru's old teammate, had recognized the symptoms for what they were.

Perhaps one day he would defeat his brother, but he refused to follow in his footsteps in order to do so.

"Nine." Naruto's voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"What?" He asked, looking into blue eyes that were bright with emotion.

"I've been hiding my things since I was nine."

Neither of them knew who initiated it, but in the next moment, both boys were engaged in a fierce hug. They didn't let go until the sun went down.

* * *

_A/N: So school has officially started. I managed to finish chapter 13 already, but 14 hasn't been started, so you'll probably have to wait a bit for that. I'm sorry! I'll start being really busy soon. I hope I'll be able to keep writing, at least a little, during the school year, but I can't make any promises._

_In better news, the story's moving along now! Just wait 'till you get to the next chapter, you're in for a nice surprise..hehehe. Now for the new question. With the way the story has been going, would you be satisfied with a few limes, or would you like to see a full out lemon before the story ends?_

_Till next time!_

_- Kinomi_


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